ABSTRACT
The Oito Batutas (Eight Experts) were a musical group of the 1920s, led by flutist Pixinguinha (Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho, 1897–1973) and the guitarist Donga (Ernesto Joaquim Maria dos Santos, 1889–1974), whose origin dates back to Grupo do Caxangá, a carnival group headed by guitarist João Pernambuco (1883–1947). The Caxangá band animated carnival between 1914 and 1919 as an attraction in a gazebo in the Largo da Carioca in the center of Rio de Janeiro, then the nation’s capital. This group was composed of more than 15 musicians, among which eight were chosen to form a choro group with strictly professional goals: to perform in the waiting room of the refined Cine Palais movie theater on Rio Branco Avenue. The selection of the musicians was made by Pixinguinha and Donga, at the request of Isaac Frankel, the movie theater manager. Furthermore, Frankel suggested that the title of a Pixinguinha tango, “Os Oito Batutas,” became the name of the band.
