Canhoto da Paraíba: Brazilian Guitarist

Introduction

Francisco Soares de Araújo, known artistically as Canhoto da Paraíba or Chico Soares, was a guitarist and Brazilian composer linked primarily to choro and Northeastern instrumental music. Born in Princesa Isabel, in the sertão (backlands) of Paraíba, and based for most of his life in Pernambuco, he became one of the most singular figures of the Brazilian violão, both for his unusual technique and for the melodic strength of his compositions.

Formation and First Contacts with Music

Canhoto was born into a musical family. His grandfather, Joaquim Soares, was a clarinetist, and his father, Antônio Soares, played violão. The family home was frequented by musicians and marked by saraus, serestas (serenades) and instrumental repertoires that shaped his aural formation from childhood. Among the references in his musical environment were local figures such as the accordionist Zé Costa, the saxophonist Manuel Marrocos (or Manoel Marra), the guitarists Zé Micas and Luís Dantas, and the maestro Joaquim Leandro, conductor of the Princesa Isabel town band.

Before establishing himself on the violão, Canhoto also came into contact with music through the church. As a sacristan, he was responsible for ringing the bells, and it is said that he performed the frevo "Vassourinhas" on the church bells. This detail should not be read merely as biographical curiosity: it points to a musicality built outside formal education, from listening, memory, community practice and bodily invention.

The "Inside Out" Technique

The most celebrated characteristic of Canhoto da Paraíba was his way of playing the violão. Being left-handed and needing to share the instrument with right-handed family members, he began playing the violão inverted, but without reversing the order of the strings. He thus developed his own technique, in which the traditional layout of the instrument was maintained, but the body, hands and logic of movements were reorganized. By the age of sixteen, when he received his own violão, he had already consolidated this way of playing "backwards," remaining self-taught in this technique.

This way of playing was not merely a visual eccentricity. It directly affected his sonority, chord fingering, melodic pathways and the way Canhoto organized phrases, bass lines and accompaniments. The expression "violão tocado pelo avesso" (guitar played inside out) is also associated with one of his most important albums.

Radio, Regionais and Professional Life

Canhoto's artistic career gained wider circulation through his relationship with radio. While still young, he went to Recife to seek a spot at Rádio Clube. Later, in 1953, he moved to João Pessoa, where he signed a contract with Rádio Tabajara, worked for approximately five years, formed his first regional (small ensemble) and accompanied local musicians and touring artists across the Northeast.

In 1958, he moved to Recife, where he began working at Rádio Jornal do Comércio and became a regular presence on the program "Quando os violões se encontram." Like many choro musicians of his generation, he did not live exclusively from music: he also worked as a social worker at Sesi in Pernambuco, balancing formal employment, radio, rodas, recordings and performances.

Encounter with Carioca Choro

In 1959, encouraged by admirers such as the bandolim player Rossini Ferreira, Canhoto traveled to Rio de Janeiro. There, he stayed for approximately two weeks at the home of Jacob do Bandolim and spent time with central figures of Brazilian music, such as Pixinguinha, Radamés Gnattali, Dilermando Reis, Tia Amélia and the young Paulinho da Viola. This encounter helped project his name beyond the Northeast and consolidated his reputation among musicians of the highest standing.

One of the most repeated stories from this period involves Radamés Gnattali, who reportedly reacted with such enthusiasm to Canhoto's playing that he threw a glass into the air, leaving a mark on the ceiling of Jacob's house. Like many narratives from the oral tradition of choro, the episode circulates between affective memory and legendary anecdote; nevertheless, its persistence reveals the impression that Canhoto's way of playing made on his peers.

Work and Musical Language

The body of work of Canhoto da Paraíba consists primarily of choros, valsas and instrumental pieces of strong melodic character. His writing combines choro procedures with rhythmic and thematic inflections linked to the Northeast, including references to baião, xote, xaxado, frevo and other regional rhythms. The result is a language in which the chorão violão opens itself to a broader geography of Brazilian music, without abandoning the harmonic and contrapuntal sophistication of the genre.

Among his best-known compositions are "Com Mais de Mil", "Tua Imagem", "Visitando o Recife", "Lembrança que Ficou", "Pisando em Brasa", "Tá Quentinho", "Reencontro com Paulinho", "Valsa a Tozinho", "19 de Março" and "Choro na Madrugada".

Selected Discography

Paulinho da Viola and the Rediscovery of Choro

The relationship with Paulinho da Viola is central to understanding the reception of Canhoto's work. In 1971, Paulinho dedicated the choro "Abraçando Chico Soares" to him. Later, he played an important role in the circulation of Canhoto's work, including in the context of the album released by the Marcus Pereira label in 1977 and in tours through the Projeto Pixinguinha.

Despite being respected by musicians such as Pixinguinha and Jacob do Bandolim, Canhoto remained relatively isolated in Recife and only managed to record an LP of wider reach in 1977, at the insistence of Paulinho da Viola with Marcus Pereira. This trajectory places Canhoto within the broader context of the so-called choro revival of the 1970s.

Selected Works

Legacy

In 1998, Canhoto suffered a cerebral ischemia that paralyzed part of his body and prevented him from continuing to play. In his final years, he received tributes and institutional recognition. In 2005, he was recognized as Patrimônio Vivo de Pernambuco (Living Heritage of Pernambuco). In Paraíba, his name was given to the Lei Canhoto da Paraíba – REMA, established by Law No. 7,694 of December 2004, aimed at the recognition, protection and appreciation of masters of the state's traditional cultures, through the Registry in the Book of Masters of the Arts. Canhoto's name thus transcended individual biography and became also a symbol of public policy for Paraíba's cultural memory.

Canhoto da Paraíba died on April 24, 2008, in the metropolitan region of Recife. His legacy endures in the recordings, in the reinterpretations by guitarists and choro groups, in the institutional tributes and in the singular place he holds in the history of the Brazilian violão.

Historical Importance

Canhoto da Paraíba occupies a rare position in the history of choro: he is at once a composer of great melodic refinement, a guitarist of an entirely personal technique and a link between the carioca choro tradition and the Northeastern musical experience. His work shows that Brazilian choro did not develop only in the major centers of the Southeast, but also through networks of radio, saraus, regionais, clubs, small-town circuits and less documented musical pathways.

His "inside out" violão should not be understood merely as biographical curiosity. It represents a pedagogy of invention: faced with an instrument designed for another body, Canhoto created his own technique and, with it, a sonic signature. Few artists have transformed a material limitation into language with such musical consequence.

Sources

• Instituto Casa do Choro — Biographical entry, musical trajectory, instrumental technique, time at Rádio Tabajara, encounter with Jacob do Bandolim and list of central works. Available at: casadochoro.com.br
• Instituto Moreira Salles / Artepensamento — Contextualization of Canhoto within the choro revival of the 1970s and his relationship with Paulinho da Viola and Marcus Pereira. Available at: ims.com.br
• Dicionário Cravo Albin da Música Popular Brasileira — Biographical data, artistic career, discography and works. Available at: dicionariompb.com.br
• Fundação Joaquim Nabuco — Biographical data, institutional recognition, discography and final years.
• Portal Cultura PE / Fundarpe — Recognition as Patrimônio Vivo de Pernambuco, discography and contextualization of his work.
• Governo da Paraíba — Lei Canhoto da Paraíba – REMA (Law No. 7,694/2004), policy for the recognition of Masters of the Arts.
• A União — Article "Avesso do avesso" (March 19, 2026), on the recent discussion regarding birth date and centenary.