Bip Bip is 8 tables, no air conditioning, and a refrigerator full of cold beer. It has been on this corner of Copacabana since the 1990s, and on certain nights — particularly Mondays when the roda de choro gathers — it is the most alive room in South America. Regulars stand on the pavement outside when the tables fill up, which they always do. Cars slow down on the street. Strangers start conversations.

Owner Bira keeps a list of rules chalked on the wall: no mobile phones during performances, no talking during solos. These are not suggestions. The musicians respect each other here, and the bar respects the musicians. What results is something that feels genuinely rare — a place where the music is the point and everything else, including the drinking, arranges itself around it.

Go before 8pm to get a table. Drink cold Brahma from a can. Say nothing during the improvised solos. This is what people mean when they talk about the soul of Rio. For more like this, explore our guide to the city's best live music bars.