Chieko Donker Duyvis Ensemble

Unique blend of Brazilian, classical and free improvisation

Perhaps a great classical cellist was lost to her, but in her place we now have a unique combination of classical schooling, Brazilian roots and a firm finger in the straw pot of jazz, united in the person of singer, cellist, composer and bandleader Chieko Donker Duyvis Ensemble from Amsterdam. Together with her six-member ensemble, she developed an idiom in which Brazilian choro, jazz and chamber music merge into a vibrant mixture that can be both frisky and light-footed and emotionally profound. That choro, a sophisticated, urban musical style that, like tango and fado, flourished in the nineteenth century, Chieko got to know through her Brazilian mother. Chieko's compositions and arrangements form the basis for tight ensemble playing that also allows for free improvisation, something the members of her ensemble make eager and deft use of. Her work is so idiosyncratic and authentic that it is safe to say that this unique musician blends seamlessly with her music.