Biography

Dedicated to the rootsy genres of samba and choro, Henrique Cazes has been active in the music scene of Rio de Janeiro as a researcher, musician, arranger and professor. Cazes started to play the violão (acoustic guitar) at six. As a self-taught musician, he began to play cavaquinho, violão tenor, banjo, viola caipira and electric guitar. In 1976, he debuted as a professional in the group "Coisas Nossas". In the ‘80s, he was a member of the "Camerata Carioca", with the mandolinist Joel Nascimento and the composer/orchestrator/pianist Radamés Gnattali, having been heavily influenced by both. In 1988 he launched himself as a cavaquinho soloist with his album "Henrique Cazes", the first of several, among them: "Tocando Waldir Azevedo" (1990), "Desde que o Choro é Choro" (1995), "Relendo Waldir Azevedo" (1998), "Tudo é choro" (2004), "Uma história do cavaquinho brasileiro" (2012) and DVD "Brincando com o cavaquinho" (2015). With Marcello Gonçalves, they produced "Pixinguinha de Bolso" (2000) and "Vamos acabar com o baile" (2007). With Cristina Buarque (samba singer), he produced 2 CD "Sem tostão/Sem tostão 2" with Noel Rosa songs. Enlarging the boundaries of choro, he created "Bach in Brazil" (2000), 4 CDs "Beatles’n’Choro" (2002-2004) and "EletroPixinguinha XXI" (2002). Cazes founded and directs the Orquestra Pixinguinha, specialized in the Pixinguinha's original arrangements. In 2019 he lanched the CD "Música Nova para Cavaquinho", with an unpublished authorial repertoire.