mike marshall & choro famoso

mike marshall & choro famoso

eThree-time Grammy nominee Mike Marshall has been pushing the boundaries of the American String Band since 1978 when he joined the original David Grisman Quintet touring with Stephane Grappelli, Tony Rice, Mark OConnor and Darol Anger. With over 40 recordings to his credit and a wide range of musical styles including CDs with Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Psychograss and Caterina Lichtenberg, Mike has been a beacon for acoustic music as a multi-instrumentalist, producer, record company partner, book publisher and educator.

Mike has always had an appreciation for a wide variety of music and in 1995 he traveled to Brazil to dig deep into the Brazilian Choro music tradition. After returning, he became obsessed with sharing his passion for this music with his contemporaries and lit a one-man fire storm of interest in this style that has spread throughout the world.

Mike’s first CD of Choro was Brazil Duets with Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Andy Narell and others. He then formed his group, Choro Famoso, and released two CDs on his own Adventure Music label as well as a duet CD with mandolin virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda, and a recording with pianist Jovino Santos Neto.

With his group Choro Famoso, Mike has surrounded himself with three of the greatest Brazilian musicians in the world today.

Douglas Lora has established himself as one of the premier Brazilian guitarists of his generation. His CDs with mandolinist Dudu Maia and clarinetist Anat Cohen have received Grammy Nominations and he has toured and recorded with YoYo Ma, Paquito d’Rivera, Assad Brothers, Marco Pereira and his own Brazilian Guitar Duo. He is currently the newest member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.

Brian Rice a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music is one of the finest Brazilian pandeiro (tamborin) players in the world today. As an American he has completely absorbed the feeling for Brazilian grooves and has toured and recorded with Brazilian masters Danilo Brito, Hamiton de Holanda, Ze Barbero, Paulo Sergio Santos and Jorge Alabe. In 2023 he premiered his solo Concerto for Pandeiro and Orchestra.

Andy Connell
Andy completed his PHD in ethnomusicology on the instrumental music of Rio de Janeiro while enrolled at UCLA. He lived in Rio, absorbing the sounds, culture and breadth of the rich are varied music of Brazil. Dr. Connell has performed with a wide range artists including Luciano Pavarotti, Dave Leibman, Lou Rawls and Hermeto Pascoal. Andy currently is a professor at James Madison University, in West Virginia where he teaches American music, the history of jazz and world music.