Pixinguinha

Verbose composer, arranger and conductor (Oito Batutas, Orquestra Tipica, Orquestra Columbia), flutist who mastered the saxophone, Pinxinguinha is an inescacapable figure in Brazilian popular music. His artistry spanned several genres.

Although his most important contribution was to establish choro as a definite genre, he was also an extraordinary arranger. In his work, Panorama da musica popular Brasileira, MPB Historian Ary Vasconcelos writes: "If you have 15 volumes to talk about all Brasilian popular music it is certainly too few. But if you have only room for a word, all is not lost. Write quickly: Pixinguinha."

— Courtesy Calabash Music