"Brasil Toca Choro" - contemporary choro videos

A friend hipped me to a recent series from Brazilian TV, "Brasil Toca Choro" (Brazil Plays Choro). There are 13 episodes on youtube, each with first-rate studio performances by some of the best contemporary choro musicians.

Even if (like me) you don't speak Portuguese, the music is very much worth your listening time.

This link will get you to an index of episodes - or, check the list below.

Here's the blurb from the introductory trailer, google-translated:

Thinking about the importance of chorinho to the construction of Brazilian identity, TV Cultura launches the channel's newest program, Brasil Toca Choro. It is in the mix of melodies of European classical music and American jazz with the African rhythm played in the terreiros of Rio de Janeiro that the pulsating heart of the choro is found. Originating in the second half of the nineteenth century, the musical rhythm has enchanted and thrilled generations for approximately 150 years.

Each program centers around an instrument, composer, or other theme:

1. Pixinguinha (the legendary choro composer)
2. Piano e primórdios (piano and origins)
3. Sopros (wind instruments)
4. Violões (guitars)
5. Acordeon (accordion)
6. Choro Canção (“choro-song” - a modernized form, predecessor of bossa nova)
7. Maestros arranjadores (great arrangers)
8. Cavaquinho (stringed instrument basic to choro)
9. Samba Chorado (samba choro)
10. Novas Linguagens (new languages)
11. Flauta (flute)
12. Outros Sotaques (other accents)
13. Bandolim (mandolin)

Here's the first program (Pixinguinha), if you would like to get started: