Update about the Fado World!!

Many exciting things are happening in Fado...

• Something I'm really excited about and can't wait to see is the Amalia movie I previously mentioned in an earlier post. It was finally released around the holidays in Portugal. The controversy surrounding the movie didn't stop fans from watching. The movie has had an overwhelming success and has been receiving positive reviews from both critics and movie goers. Here's a quick synopsis from film.com and the trailer for the movie...

Amalia: O Filme

Follows the life of Portuguese singer Amalia Rodrigues, whose successful international career was marred by a series of romantic mishaps.

Right before the holidays, a tribute to Amalia Rodrigues' last performance in the Olympia du Paris was celebrated in Campo Gande, Lisbon and transmitted worldwide on RTP. Fadistas performing included Carminho, Mariza, Ana Moura, Celeste Rodrigues, Carlos Do Carmo, Ricardo Ribeiro, and Camane. It was wonderful to see such powerful names in Fado share the stage. Amalia died in what will be 10 years on October 6th, 2009. Carminho, or Carmo Rebelo de Andrade, did an amazing job!! I couldn't wait until it was her turn to sing again amungst all of those huge Fadistas.

I fell in love with her style since I first saw her in the Casa de Fado scene from the movie Fados, by Carlos Saura. Here's a quick bio (in Portuguese) from Artistas e Espetaculos:

CARMINHO

Carmo Rebelo de Andrade tem 24 anos, nasceu e cresceu no Fado, por isso
lhe é tão espontâneo como respirar.

“Nunca vi a Música como uma coisa especial, sempre esteve tão presente na
minha vida que seria como querer distinguir um braço mais importante do
que o outro” afirma Carminho.

Poucas palavras podem descrever tamanha naturalidade, salvo a emoção
que sentimos ao ouvi-la cantar.

Foi distinguida com o Prémio “Revelação Feminina” pela Fundação Amália
Rodrigues (2005) e entre colaborações e participações especiais já se
apresentou ao vivo em países como Espanha, Argentina, Malta ou Suíça.

Participa no filme “Fados” de Carlos Saura em 2007 e em Junho passado
actuou já em nome próprio no Pavilhão de Portug al da Expo Zaragoza.

Já no final de 2008 é convidada especial de Carlos do C armo para o concerto
comemorativo de 45 anos de carreira, no Pavilhão Atlântico. Participa
também no espectáculo de Homenagem a Amália Rodrigues “Olympia”,
realizado no Campo Pequeno em Lisboa, ao lado de nomes como Mariza,
Ana Moura ou Camané.

2009 é o ano da sua estreia em disco.

I can't wait for her album to be released!! I'm already a huge fan and all I have to hear are her videos on youtube...

I can't get enough of her so here's another video =)

• Ana Moura has released a DVD of her concert no Coliseu, one of Ana's highest and most prestige points in her career to date! I bought this DVD and have been watching it on repeat! During her concert, she has special guests which include Jorge Fernando, Maria Da Fé, and Beatriz Da Conceição. This DVD (which also includes a cd with the live recording of the concert) as an amazing celebration of her overwhelming success since the release of her latest album "Para Alem da Saudade." Ana Moura has just recovered from a common throat surgery which forced her to cancel some of her scheduled concerts for the month of February. But she's back and currently working on a new album while still performing around the world! I also heard Ana Moura will be returning to the United States later this year...

Along with the Ana Moura DVD that I mentioned earlier, I also purchased the album of an amazing young and beautiful Fadista, Filipa Cardoso. Sound familiar? I had stumbled across a video of her on youtube (that is no longer available) a while back and instantly became a fan without having heard much else from her. Last month, she released her latest album "Cumprir Seu Fado" (produced by the one responsible for the launching of the careers of Mariza and Ana Moura, Jorge Fernando.) I have been anticipating this album since its release date and I haven't stopped listening to it. The guitars are brilliant, with Jorge Fernando na viola and Jose Manuel Neto on the Portuguese guitar. Her effortless tone and modern personality stays true to the traditional Fado while still being approached in a new extraordinary light. Its tracks include brilliant lyrics she wrote herself adapted to Fado Tango, a Fado dedicated to her daughter "Beatriz" adapted to Fado Margaridas, as well as a strong interpretation of Fado Corrido called "Meu Amor", Fado Pierrot with Argentina Santos, and my two favorites, Magala, "Suplica Perdida" and Fado Isabel "Meus Labios Beijam o Fado". Jose Manuel Neto and Jorge Fernando did a superb job on Magala, making it their own by including an intro that reminds my of the "flight of the bumblebees" and strong punches on the viola. Fado Isabel is one of my favorite styles of Fado and I was surprised when I saw Filipa recorded it. Not too many people have recorded it lately and I actually have that style of Fado lined up for my next album. I was really excited to hear her interpretation of it. When I hear this album, I feel her emotion and hear Lisbon in her voice. In my opinion, she is what a Fadista is all about! I can't stress enough how much I love this album. It was definitely worth the extra $35 for shipping. =)

About Filipa Cardoso

Perdoarão a arrogância, mas logo para início de conversa, a teoria: o Fado é a arte de bem dizer o silêncio. Na verdade, e se tempo houvesse, diria que toda a grande arte caminha para o que não se diz, simplesmente porque não existe maneira de o dizer. Uma pintura, um poema, uma voz – tudo isto, no seu melhor, diz o que não conseguimos dizer. E é isso que o Fado faz quando nos devolve sem defesas nem remédio o que se sente e qu

e muitas vezes – sempre? – confundimos com esse mistério que resolvemos chamar de alma.

Essa magia é transmitida há muito tempo através de gerações dos seus praticantes: nas casas de Fado, nos retiros, nos bairros, homens e mulheres são iniciados nesta misteriosa disciplina de ir para além das palavras e cortar direito ao coração de quem ouve. Uma dessas eleitas é Filipa Cardoso.

Filipa cresceu no bairro do Alto do Pina, em Lisboa, entre amadores do Fado, no sentido mais nobre da palavra. As suas memórias de infância têm acordes de guitarra portuguesa e lembranças de vozes como a de Fernando Maurício. Aos 10 anos, num casamento de uma familiar, pedem-lhe para cantar um Fado; no final tinha uma oferta de emprego e correspondente cachet. Cinco anos depois volta a encantar por acaso, num aniversário, o que lhe valeu a contratação para actuar em duas casas de Fado.

Só que havia um problema: a adolescente feliz não conseguia sentir o repertório triste que a faziam cantar – o que no Fado é pecado maior e infelizment

e comum. Nessa altura tomou uma decisão corajosa e sensata: parou. Voltaria nove anos mais tarde, depois de um período intenso em que ganhou vida e encheu a alma das emoções boas e más de que a vida é feita. Não é de estranhar que quando o Fado voltou, já chegou cheio de verdade. Resu

ltado mais visível: a sua vitória na Grande Noite do Fado de 2004.

É convidada a integrar o elenco da casa de Fados Sr.Vinho, onde continua a sua aprendizagem. Até que um dia o destino – personagem inevitável nesta história – lhe dá a conhecer Jorge Fernando, que além de ser um brilhante músico, autor, compositor e cantor é também alguém com um raro dom para perceber as almas de diamante em bruto: foi assim com Mariza, foi assim com Ana Moura, é assim com Filipa Cardoso. A todas Jorge Fernando produziu o primeiro disco. No caso de Filipa, assina também a maior parte dos poemas e alguns Fados originais.

Quem ouvir com atenção Cumprir Seu Fado compreende que,

mais do que um disco de Fado, é uma inevitabilidade para Filipa Cardoso. A voz e a alma estavam há algum tempo prontas a ser partilhadas. E são-no da maneira mais bonita: quer cante o ciúme, o desengano, o amor impossível e o amor maternal, o desejo cru e poético e claro, a saudade, Filipa Cardoso diz a verdade. Percebeu-o Argentina Santos, que com ela colabora no “Fa

do da Herança”. Porque o que Filipa traz é a herança da mudanç

a, uma voz que carrega todos os fadistas e poetas do passado para desaguar numa alma só dela. E que ao escutar-se o primeiro Fado, garanto: é também a nossa alma.

(Nuno Miguel Guedes, Fevereiro d e 2009)

• Helder Moutinho has just returned to Portugal from a mini U. S. t our, where he performed and promoted new Fados from his latest album "Que Fado é este que trago?" I was upset he didn't come to the East Coast this time around but I'm excited to hear his lastest work.

• Fados, By Carlos Saura is now showing in New York and I've been reading some of the reviews being written by New York news papers and magazines and find them to be very entertaining, sometimes even brutally hilarious. It is currently showing at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, NY, NY, 10023 212-757-2280
  
  Review by the Village Voice: The Fado is a dolorous folksong tradition from Portugal, first sung in the early 19th century by barefoot peasants mending nets and contemplating a roiling black Atlantic. It has survived to the present day, providing MP3 succor to middle-class professionals on antidepressants (lyric: “It was God’s will that I live with anxiety”)—and now it’s the subject of a film revue by the venerable Carlos Saura. Contemporary celebs appear (superstar fadista mewlers Mariza and Lura), alongside ghosts (Amália “Queen of Fado” Rodrigues). Saura is formally ambitious—a troupe travels through the film, articulating lyrics in dance—but the movie missteps when departing wholly from the intrinsic nostalgia of its subject, as the seventysomething director imposes his idea of contemporary cool: interspersed hip-hop trio NBC, SP & Wilson and Brazilian reggae artist Toni Garrido. The sequestering of performers into warehouse-studio spaces adds a certain chill to the proceedings, but there are happy exceptions. Nonagenarian Argentina Santos fills her single-take frame with stout gravitas. The penultimate scene takes place in the House of Fados, a Freed Unit version of a Lisbon barroom, its walls a graveyard of headshots, where song is passed around like a challenge and teenaged braceface Carminho shuts the place down. — Nick Pinkerton

Here's another review from Rottontomatoes.com:
They call it the Portuguese 'blues', but director Carlos Saura livens up the proceedings with some of the best 'fado' singers ever (both living & dead), then blends in a dancers & projections to further heighten his aural potpourri!

2-1/2 stars (MUST-SEE for Folk & Fado music lovers, there's a rap song too)
[(2007)music documentary/Portugal-Spain] - (1 hr 32 min)



Review:
This film is basically an aural collection of the many styles of Fados music with each song given a distinctive visual interpretation. Therefore, the best way to review it is not as a whole but as a series of short films with musical accompaniment.
And for those familiar with music-oriented movies (aka 'rockumentaries'), don't be put off by the fact that many of the singers perform with their eyes closed, as that is part of the Fado style.

LAST NOTE: This is not my kind of music, but if you like lots of strumming guitars, mandolins, etc., then add this one to your film (or album) list.

1. Opening credits, brief history, and segue to marching song as the (theatricalized) Portuguese arrive in Lisbon (two song sequence lasts 7 min).
2. VARIACOES (3 min) - Acoustic duet (no vocals) - In memory of António Variações (1944-1984), an innovative singer-songwriter who died prematurely.
3. MOCAMBIQUE (5 min) - Mariza sings w/ male dancer (musical accompaniment by sextet). Song was written to honor the Portuguese settlement (aka 'Mozambique') established from 1507 to present.
4. MODINHAS E LUNDUNS (5 min) - Toni Garrido sings w/ pianist & eight
female dancers. The song 'Midnight in London' has a racial context with the words "your little Negro" used repeatedly (may seem offensive, but used in context).
5. FADO MENOR DO PORTO (5 min) - Camané sings w/ small band and group of female dancers.
6a. MARIA SEVERA, SEC. XIX (3 min) - Sung by Catarina Moura w/ a small band and a 'sanfona' player (very unique instrument). Dedicated to the memory of one of Fado's earliest known singers Maria Severa Onofriana (1820-1846), also known simply as A Severa. Segment also includes some B&W movie clips from the movie "A Severa," based on her short life.
6b. Homage to A Severa continues (3 min) with new singer Cuca, accompanied by guitarist.
7a. Homage to Alfredo Marceneiro (2 min) - Archive clip of Alfredo performing with two female dancers dancing in front of a rear-screen projection.
7b. Homage continues (4 min) with three rappers (NBC/SP & WILSON) along with several dancers. [NOTE: Very heavy beat that could be disconcerting to older viewers]
8. LISBOA (4 min) - Solo by CARLOS DO CARMO with projected shots of the city around him. Accompanied by acoustic guitar.
9a. Homage to Carlos' late mother and Fado singer, Lucília do Carmo (2 min). Archive song by Lucilia is accompanied by group dance and rear-projection of the singer as a young woman.
9b. Song segues (4 min) to new singer and (2 female-1 male) dancer love triangle. Singer is the very expressive LILA DOWNS.
10. FADO MENOR (3 min) - Sung by veteran Fadista Argentina Santos, a very deeply felt vocal performance.
11. FADO BATIDO (3 min) - Instrumental song with dancers leaping around a bonfire.
12. MORNA (4 min) - Sung by the beautiful LURA w/ sextet and dancers.
13. FADO ALFACINHA (3 min) - Camané's second appearance as soloist. This song was made famous by the Queen of Fado, Amália Rodrigues(1920-1999).
14a. Homage to Amália Rodrigues (3 min) - Archive song w/ dancers in front of rear-screen projection.
14b. Segue to new song (5 min)by singer-guitarist CAETANO VELOSO.
15. REVOLUCAO (3 min) - Male chorus and archive footage of protest rallies.

The film concludes with a tribute to FADO FLAMENCO and and CASA DE FADOS. The latter demonstrates the 'dueling' aspect of Fado music as it emerged from the cafes. Various singers take a song stanza in turn and try to best the previous performer.
All in all, this is a very informative depiction of a style of music that is unknown to many Portuguese people (especially myself). Certainly a film that will live forever in music libraries and should be sought out by musical completists.
Your mileage may vary (I yawned twice), but it's certainly watchable (& listenable) for all musically inclined audiences.

Another review from thelmagazine.com:

Fados | Directed by Carlos Saura

Runtime: 1:30 (90 mins) Rating: Reviewed by Benjamin H. Sutton Spanish arthouse director Carlos Saura’s vibrant portrait of the Portuguese musical style fado is the kind of loving, even-handed and open-minded documentary tribute too few music genres receive. With virtually no talking-head sequences or black and white photomontages, Fados’s stories emerge organically from the two-dozen performances it features. And yet story being told amounts to much more than The Buena Vista Social Club’s collected concert footage. Fados takes place on a studio soundstage where walls of color and mirrored panels allow Saura to create a kind of minimalist mis-en-scene for singers, musicians and dancers. In numbers choreographed especially for his swooping, pacing camera, narratives of pain, loss, hope and rejection unite cultural memory, personal hardship and political upheaval. Fado’s origins are rooted in Lisbon’s port-side working-class quarters of the 19th century. Musically it bears striking tonal and thematic similarities to jazz and the blues. In fact, Fados’s opening Saint John’s Day performance is the same sort of parade-as-cultural-exorcism that closed Spike Lee’s When The Levees Broke. These are musics of melancholy, born out of poverty, urban blight and marginalization. Fado was also dramatically reshaped by immigrants from Portugal’s colonies, a stylistic shift evidenced by the incredible range of performances in Fados. Fado was traditionally played in small restaurants or bars by two guitarists (one Spanish, the other Portuguese) and a singer. As Fados shows though, the genre has expanded to incorporate influences from reggae, rock, hip hop and poetry, and accompaniment by ballet, modern dance, flamenco and breakdancing. Similarly, its subjects have expanded from tales of squalor and sex to incorporate post-colonialism, feminism and political activism — as evidenced here by Fados’s only archival footage, taken from the non-violent 1974 Carnation Revolution. Saura’s storytelling is all the more effective for eschewing the conventional didactic documentary format. Clashes between fado traditionalists, its younger, racially and musically diverse newcomers and the ghettoizing category of “World Music” all gradually come to the fore. Ultimately, Fados doesn’t idealize its subject, offering its musical lens as a window onto Portuguese history and society, one textured by the deep cracks found in the fragmented social landscapes of every contemporary cultural situation. Fado defies the reductive “World Music” label, but Saura still shows how its stories of suffering and injustice stand for common experiences the world over.

• This year the Amalia Revelation Award has been awarded to Cristina Nóbrega, who last year launched her album, "Palavras do Meu Fado". I stumbled across her video for "Madrugada Da Alfama" on youtube not knowing who she was not too long ago and thought it was beautifully done. The images in this video makes me miss Portugal so much.
  
  
  
  
  
  Cristina Nobrega
  

  Cristina Nóbrega nasceu em Lisboa. Descobre o Fado aos 20 anos ao assistir a um concerto que a encanta e lhe traça o futuro artístico. É a discografia de Amália que desperta o gosto por interpretar esta linguagem que a fascina pela sua simplicidade. Desde criança que a música está presente na sua vida, frequentou em permanência escolas de música e dança, entre elas o Conservatório Nacional e a Academia dos Amadores de Música. Percorreu vários géneros musicais mas é no Fado que encontra a forma mais profunda de expressão. Após vários anos de formação por carolice e incursões por vários géneros musicais, sente no início de 2008 que precisa de cantar. Tudo acontece em poucos meses com a apresentação de uma maqueta a uma editora que dá origem à edição do seu primeiro CD de Fados clássicos “Palavras do Meu Fado” (iPlay/2008), com poemas de Vasco de Lima Couto, Pedro Homem de Mello, David Mourão-Ferreira, Ary dos Santos, Luís Vaz de Camões, Linhares Barbosa, Luís de Macedo, entre outros. E músicas de Alain Oulman, José Marques do Amaral, Joaquim Campos, Carlos Gonçalves, entre outros. Interpreta à sua maneira os poetas e as músicas que a encantam. Pela mão do prestigiado cenógrafo e homem da cultura, José Manuel Castanheira, estreia-se no Círculo de Bellas Artes em Madrid a 14 de Setembro de 2008. Deste projecto de amigos fazem parte: Manuel Rodrigues, José Manuel Castanheira - cenógrafo, Inês de Oliveira - designer de moda, Ricardo Reis - fotógrafo e o mestre Real Bordalo - pintor.
  

• The unstoppable Mariza is conquering the world yet again with over 100 shows to promote her latest album "Terra." Since her release back in October, she has achieved double platinum status. I had the pleasure of attending her performance in Long Island, New York in February. I was so excited to finally get to hear Diogo Clemente on the viola. I'm a huge fan of his work with Raquel Tavares as well "Cabelo Branco é Saudade" and he was also a part of Carlos Saura's film, Fados. He is truely amazing and definitely one of the best presently playing Fado. Angelo Friere returned to the U.S. this time to accompany Mariza and he's still playing that Portuguese guitar effortlessly at only 20 years old. After the show my father told me that he was convinced that when Angelo was a baby, his father gave him a guitar instead of a pacifier! He's unbelievable. Mariza once again was mesmerizing. A flawless performance indeed. I must admit however, my favorite part of the show was right at the end when Mariza, Angelo, and Diogo sang Fado Mouraria together!! I was lucky enough to be 2 rows from the stage so I have some really close footage... Enjoy!