Oito Batutas

The group Oito Batutas was of fundamental importance to Brazilian music for a number of reasons. Led by Pixinguinha, Oito Batutas was created to amuse the audience from the Movie theater Palais in its foyer. Starting on Apr 7, 1919, the group was successful from its debut. The Carioca élite, who have been utilized to the Viennese waltzes (currently having assimilated the processed piano playing and Chopin-inspired tangos of Ernesto Nazareth) had been taken by shock from the repertory of maxixes, sertanejo tunes, batuques, cateretês, and choros. The instrumentation, common from the working-class from the suburbs and shantytowns, was also noticed for the very first time by the common bourgeois of Rio de Janeiro: bandola and reco-reco (Luís de Oliveira), pandeiro (Jacó Palmieri), ganzá (José Alves, also a mandolinist), and cavaquinho (Nelson Alves). The additional members had been Pixinguinha and his flute, his sibling China (vocals/acoustic guitar/piano), Raul Palmieri (acoustic guitar), and Donga (acoustic guitar). Luís de Oliveira, who passed away immediately after the debut, was changed by João Tomás. After their historical time of year in Paris in 1922, they launched via the choro the instrumentation extracted from jazz by Pixinguinha (saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, banjo, and drums), at exactly the same time they also presented a fresh repertory of fox trots, shimmys, and ragtimes. In 1920, the group performed for the Ruler of Belgium and within the next season they toured São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia, and Pernambuco. Time for Rio, they visited play on the high-class Assírio Club, associated the dance duo Duque & Gaby. In January 1922, the group departed for Paris, France, financed by millionaire Arnaldo Guinle, using the brothers Palmieri and João Tomás getting changed by Feniano (pandeiro) and José Monteiro (vocals). Introduced as Les Batutas on the Scherazade membership, they performed there for half a year, time for Brazil with time to take part in the display from the Centennial from the Self-reliance in the same season. Also in 1922, they still left for Argentina, executing on the Empire Movie theater (Buenos Aires) and documenting ten albums through the Argentinean Victor. The formation on that trip was Pixinguinha (flute/saxophone), Donga (electric guitar and six-string banjo), João Tomás (drums), China (electric guitar/banjo), J. Ribas (piano), Nelson Alves (cavaquinho), and José Alves (mandolin, banjo, and ganzá). Upon their go back to Brazil in 1923, they reduced their shows until they dissolved the group (also if the name was employed for Odeon around 1928 to designate various other groups).