Hot Choro in Port Townsend...great group for Choro workshop

[Al Bergstein]

About 40 of us gathered at Wheeler Theater last night to kick off the Choro workshop in PT. A great group of guitar, mandolin, flute, clarinet, pandiero, violin and even a viola in them mix. Level of musicianship is really high, which already paid off in a great late night circle (roda) in one of the old Officer's Quarters at the Fort. Players from Memphis to New Zealand are here, and a number of not well known choros have been played.

I'll try and post some pics, and maybe a short video or two later this weekend.

[Al Bergstein]

Thanks to everyone who came and played, including many members of this forum, like Amy from Memphis, Tim Connell from Portland (Tim channeled Jacob by not using any sheet music during the workshop!), Tom Moran of the Mandolin Quarterly and Downtown Mountain Boys, Doug Hoople, Dave Stewart, Larry Klose, John Morton, (who have I missed?).

I had a great time, and we made it economically worth while for Centrum to do this again, as there already plans afoot for next year. The late night jam sessions with Mike, and all of Choro Famoso, along with the really excellent musical ability of the students, led to some of the best jamming I've had in years. The late night parties were ones to remember. We would like to expand it next year, adding Brazilians to allow us to add more students, and variety of playing styles.

I had Choro Famoso and Centrum's permission to video tape in High Definition the entire concert, and the quality of the audio I took off the board (Thanks Neville!) and video is real good. I'm waiting on Mike and crew to get a chance to look at the video, and decide what we should do with it. Some obviously will be used in clips for advertising of future events, but they may decide to allow full release of entire songs from the evening to YouTube or somehow get it to you folks. If so, I'll let you know. The feeling was to get them the video, and give them some time to get distance from the performance before deciding how good it was. All I can say is the concert was superb, from my perspective. Lots of new songs.

Additionally, I personally want to thank all of you for supporting our efforts to get an annual all instrument choro workshop going. It was way too much fun to stop, so we'll be back again next year, if at all possible.

[Amy Burcham]

A big Yes to all of that! I flew back home on a whole new level of inspiration, my choro bag filled to overflowing with new connections to this most incredible music. There are - largely thanks to the trailblazing of Mike and Choro Famoso - an increasing number of very good choro ensembles sprinkled in the hometowns of lucky people across the US. But we (as audience members at Saturday night's unveiling) were reminded once again how much Choro Famoso is just over-the-top fabulous. Each one of these guys extracts more soul, class, and nuance from these instruments than I personally ever knew was in them, and on top of that they are so perfectly attuned to one another in performance.

As students in the various master class and ensemble coaching sessions, we were hugely privileged. Each of us had sessions involving each of the members of CF, and gained a lot from exposure to their individual perspectives. Every one of them is a master teacher, and I don't say that lightly. It's the twin pole of what makes an experience with Choro Famoso transcendent. Beyond the obvious world-class skill, their generosity of character, compassion for the student, focus, attention to detail, and above all joy in the music run all through these encounters and I think we all left much richer than we came.

Indeed we did have a great mix of participant players! I also want to compliment Gregg Miller and Centrum for making the amenities and flow so pleasant - extremely yummy, healthy food, and a clear, unobtrusive, but essential degree of organization that freed us to concentrate on the music. I'd say I cannot wait until the next choro workshop, but at this point I am most of all inspired to use the time between now and then to build on the gifts I was given last week. Thanks Al and thanks all!

[Tim C.]

Amen to everything Al and Amy just said! What a sweet, kind, funny interesting, excellent bunch of people to hang with for four days. Centrum at Fort Worden is a treasure indeed: beautiful, well-run, the perfect spot. And the growing choro tribe - a real treat to re-connect with folks from the Symposium, Wintergrass and to meet some non-mandolin choro folks as well. Most of all, such a great opportunity to hang with four world class musicians and hilariously fun guys. This is definitely the best way to learn music - just play it!

Hats off to Al Bergstein for getting it off the ground, Gregg Miller for running the show, our two wonderful cooks (who loved the music), and most of all to Mike Marshall, Colin Walker, Brian Rice and Andy Connell for giving so much of their time to us all weekend long, and performing a show of entirely new, very interesting material, some real off-the-beaten path choros in there.

Too many highlights to mention, but one springs to mind: Andy standing up and "conducting" all 30-some of us in a ridiculous scat-sung chorus of Receita de Samba in the final night jam.

I sure hope it's an annual get-together, count me in for sure!
T

[Doug Hoople]

+1 to all of the above!

It was a learning and playing experience of the highest order, in an exceptionally beautiful setting, with a very warm personal vibe, organized so well, as Amy said, that none of us really noticed that it was organized. It just flowed.

Choro Famoso was in top form, and all four of these guys are, if it's actually possible, better than ever!!!??!! Some great new material, and a few classics that are still not in the standard West Coast roda rotation (Murmurando and É do que há (the first choro Jacob ever learned)). A couple of others less known, but still worthy of roda status, Bola Preta and Simplicidade. Plus a few ravishing Guinga tunes, a Paulo Sergio Santos number, and... and... and...

Adding to Tim's picture of the scat-sung final chorus of "Receita de Samba," it was in the living room after the concert, the groove was already relaxed and hot and perfect, with Brian and Colin holding down the center, Mike and Andy and students playing chorus after chorus, dancing was breaking out in the dining room, pleasure all 'round... and that's when Andy got everyone to "Shooby Taylor" the final chorus. "Ridiculous" is definitely the right word for it, but we were howling! The place erupted with high spirits and laughter.

Appropriately enough, the workshop was in full swing on April 23rd, Pixinguinha's birthday, an official Brazilian holiday, "O Dia Nacional do Choro" (National Day of Choro). What a great way to celebrate!

[Tom Pinit]

Hi guys, long-time lurker, first-time poster. I thoroughly enjoyed our weekend at Fort Worden and look forward to next year's workshop! If you're ever in the Portland area, stop by for one of our weekly roda de choro jam sessions!

Tchau, Tom