about Rio Con Brio
Formed in 2005 in Portland Oregon, Rio Con Brio plays choro, the early 20th century street music of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Influenced by Afro-Brazilian rhythms and the cafe music of Italy, France and Portugal, choro is both exotic and familiar, evoking in turn the carnival of Rio and the cafes of Paris.
Performing on acoustic mandolin and guitar with virtuosity and passion, Rio Con Brio plays music that is festive, beautiful and perfect for every setting, from wineries to concert stages.
Tim Connell mandolin
A graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music and a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist with over twenty years professional performance experience, Tim Connell is a quietly rising star in the acoustic music world, forging a unique and sophisticated new voice for the mandolin in his recordings and tours with noted jazz guitarist Eric Skye, fellow mandolinist Jack Dwyer, as well as with Rio Con Brio.
While at NEC, Tim first heard the recordings of the great Brazilian choro mandolinist, Jacob do Bandolim, which led him to study this music with Brazilian choro masters Paulo Sa, Danilo Brito, Dudu Maia and Hamilton de Holanda, and with the legendary American mandolinist Mike Marshall.
Tim is an experienced teacher and workshop presenter, teaching at the annual River of the West Mandolin Camp, leading the choro jam at David Grisman and Mike Marshall's annual Mandolin Symposium in Santa Cruz, CA and teaching mandolin workshops and leading the choro jam at the annual Wintergrass bluegrass festival in Bellevue, WA. As a prolific session musician, Tim's mandolin (and Irish tin whistle, guitar and bass) are featured on dozens of CD's, including the latest release in the wildly popular Oy, Baby! series of Jewish children's music, where he can be heard putting the “Oy!” in mand-oy-lin.
Tim's in-depth study of both Brazilian and Irish music, combined with his earlier years as a professional bassist and pianist have helped Tim synthesize a personal style on the mandolin which is harmonically advanced, rhythmically diverse and brimming over with sparkling ornamentation and romantic intensity.
Mike Burdette guitar
Mike has been playing Brazilian choro and gypsy jazz guitar for the past five years with many of Portland's best, including Jason Okomoto, David Stassens, Joseph Appel and Tim Connell. He performs regularly with both Rio Con Brio and the Clambake Combo. He also builds and repairs guitars for many of Portland's finest players at Portland Fretworks. He lives in rural Newberg, Oregon with his beautiful wife, Katherine, his chickens and his cat, Gear.