Biography
Born into a musical household, Canhoto da Paraíba took up the violão at an early age. Being left-handed and forced to share a single instrument with his siblings, he mastered an inverted playing posture that left onlookers astonished by his already advanced solo technique under such constraints. Across decades he contributed to countless studio sessions and broadcast dates while backing leading vocalists, yet he also earned acclaim in his own right as both a virtuoso instrumentalist and a composer. Two of his choros, “Com Mais de Mil” and “Visitando o Recife,” stand among the genre’s finest examples and remain quintessential expressions of the choro Pernambucano style, whose distinctive traits set it apart from its Carioca counterpart.
The choro tradition took root in the Northeast much as it had in Rio, sustained by regular radio work that employed small accompanying groups known as regionais. The key regional difference lay in leadership: whereas Rio ensembles were typically directed by flutists or mandolinists, those in the Northeast were fronted by violonistas, and Canhoto da Paraíba numbered among them.
He joined Rádio Tabajara in João Pessoa PB in 1953 and remained for five years, during which he assembled his first regional. Returning to Recife PE in 1958, he was engaged by Rádio Jornal do Comércio and became a regular on the program Quando os Violões se Encontram, alongside Miro José—who had introduced the seven-string violão to Pernambuco—Tozinho, Wilson Sandes, Ernani Reis, Romualdo, Ceça, Zé do Carmo, and others. In that same period he frequently collaborated with mandolinist Rossini Ferreira, accordionist Sivuca, and mandolinist Luperce Miranda.
October 1959 found him traveling to Rio de Janeiro in the company of João Dias, Dona Ceça, Zé do Carmo, and Rossini Ferreira. There the group drew praise from Pixinguinha, Radamés Gnattali, Jacob do Bandolim, and Paulinho da Viola, the last of whom later honored Canhoto da Paraíba with the choro “Abraçando o Chico Soares” (1971) and produced the 1977 LP Canhoto da Paraíba: Com Mais de Mil on the Marcus Pereira label. In 1993 he released the CD Pisando em Brasa on Caju Music.
The choro tradition took root in the Northeast much as it had in Rio, sustained by regular radio work that employed small accompanying groups known as regionais. The key regional difference lay in leadership: whereas Rio ensembles were typically directed by flutists or mandolinists, those in the Northeast were fronted by violonistas, and Canhoto da Paraíba numbered among them.
He joined Rádio Tabajara in João Pessoa PB in 1953 and remained for five years, during which he assembled his first regional. Returning to Recife PE in 1958, he was engaged by Rádio Jornal do Comércio and became a regular on the program Quando os Violões se Encontram, alongside Miro José—who had introduced the seven-string violão to Pernambuco—Tozinho, Wilson Sandes, Ernani Reis, Romualdo, Ceça, Zé do Carmo, and others. In that same period he frequently collaborated with mandolinist Rossini Ferreira, accordionist Sivuca, and mandolinist Luperce Miranda.
October 1959 found him traveling to Rio de Janeiro in the company of João Dias, Dona Ceça, Zé do Carmo, and Rossini Ferreira. There the group drew praise from Pixinguinha, Radamés Gnattali, Jacob do Bandolim, and Paulinho da Viola, the last of whom later honored Canhoto da Paraíba with the choro “Abraçando o Chico Soares” (1971) and produced the 1977 LP Canhoto da Paraíba: Com Mais de Mil on the Marcus Pereira label. In 1993 he released the CD Pisando em Brasa on Caju Music.
Albums
