Rio de Janeiro Nightlife Guide for Tuesday, March 10, 2026

Will Calhoun stays in Brazil after the Living Colour tour to play two unique shows with a Brazilian quartet — and tonight’s session at the Blue Note Rio is the Rio date. Born in the Bronx, trained at Berklee College of Music in sound engineering and recording, Calhoun built his reputation as a drummer who refuses genre boundaries: jazz, rock, funk, blues, Latin rhythms, electronic textures, ambient, and the percussive traditions of West Africa and Brazil all converge in his solo work. He has played alongside Wayne Shorter, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Ron Carter, Marcus Miller, and Mike Stern, and won two Grammys with Living Colour — the band that redefined rock by injecting funk, soul, and political intelligence into the genre after Mick Jagger personally championed their debut. Tonight the format is the Quarteto de Batucada: Calhoun at the drums surrounded by the three Continento brothers — Jorge on saxophone and flute, Kiko on piano, and Alberto on bass. The programme is improvisation-heavy, genre-fluid, and built to take advantage of the Blue Note’s intimate room. Two sessions: 8 pm and 10:30 pm. The Blue Note’s weekday format gives access to the salão from 7 pm (with ticket); the happy hour on the calçadão and piano bar is open from 5 pm (free entry). Tickets via Eventim.

Tuesday is choro night at the Bip Bip. The tiny bar — eighteen square metres, no stage, no PA, no waiters — has held this schedule since 1968: Tuesday for choro, Wednesday for bossa nova, Thursday and Sunday for samba. The format is unchanged: musicians gather from 8 pm at the bar on Rua Almirante Gonçalves, 50, in Copacabana, instruments unplugged, and play into the night while the audience stands on the pavement or presses into the doorway. The bar’s late founder Alfredinho — the figure known to every regular — established the house rule that still holds: listen in silence, snap your fingers instead of clapping, help yourself to a beer from the fridge, and settle the bill when you leave. The choro repertoire ranges from Pixinguinha and Waldir Azevedo to contemporary compositions, depending entirely on who arrives to play. No cover. Five minutes on foot from the Blue Note Rio — which makes the two venues a natural pairing tonight. Walk to the Bip Bip before or after the Will Calhoun session: the 8 pm start at both means the Bip Bip roda will still be going when the Blue Note’s first session ends around 9:30 pm.

The Carioca da Gema returns to its regular weekly rhythm tonight — the house on Avenida Mem de Sá, 79, operates seven nights a week, and Tuesday is the first midweek night when the Lapa circuit begins to come alive. The house has been presenting live samba since 2000 in a restored two-storey colonial building on the avenue that defines the neighbourhood’s musical corridor. Tuesday nights typically feature one band rather than the double bill that starts on Wednesday, and the crowd is lighter than the weekend — but the room’s proportions (intimate, two floors, colonial details) reward a smaller gathering. Doors open at 7 pm; music from approximately 9 pm. The kitchen runs standard Brazilian bar fare alongside caipirinhas and cold chope. Cover charge applies — check the Fever or Sympla listing for tonight’s specific artist and price. The Beco do Rato is a three-minute walk further along Rua Joaquim Silva, making the two venues an easy Lapa pair. Metro Cinelândia, ten minutes on foot.

The Beco do Rato on Rua Joaquim Silva, 11, continues its seven-day operation. Tuesday is the second-quietest night of the week — after Monday — but the courtyard stays open with live samba from the evening, no cover charge, and the kitchen running pastéis de angu and boteco standards. Founded in 2005 by Márcio Pacheco, the house divides into three areas: an indoor salão with murals of Pixinguinha and Noel Rosa, a covered terrace, and the open-air courtyard that defines the venue’s character. On a rainy Tuesday — 56% chance of precipitation tonight — the covered terrace and indoor salão are the better options. Three minutes from the Carioca da Gema along Rua Joaquim Silva, ten minutes from Metro Cinelândia. Cash, card, PIX.

The Nova Capela at Avenida Mem de Sá, 96, in Lapa, is the restaurant-bar that has anchored this stretch of the avenue for over a century — a Patrimônio Cultural Carioca recognised by the city. The house stays open late on weeknights, and on a Tuesday when the Lapa circuit is still in its early-week rhythm, the Nova Capela serves as the natural dinner stop before or after the Carioca da Gema or Beco do Rato. The signature dish is the cabrito assado — roasted kid goat — served with rice and farofa, a plate that has been on the menu for decades and remains the reason many regulars return. The bar pours cold chope and caipirinhas, and the interior retains its early-twentieth-century proportions: marble tables, tiled floors, and the kind of ambient noise that comes from a room where conversation and food take priority over music. Three minutes on foot from the Carioca da Gema. Metro Cinelândia.

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