Today’s Soundtrack: Fados da tristeza alegre – Marco Rodrigues

It has been WAY too long! This summer has slipped away and not too much has happened in my blog world. Time to change this with a post about this wonderful CD, perfect for a lazy summer afternoon.

I first came into contact with Fado music, the traditional music of Portugal, on a trip to Lisbon. Portugal’s capital city reminded me much of San Fransisco, though I can’t speak to the accuracy of this assessment, having never actually BEEN to San Fransisco.  Let me explain, this sunny city on the riverside has rolling hills all throughout, and people make their way around on old-school trolleys. In fact there is even a bridge in Lisbon, the 25 de Abril bridge, that is an exact replica of the famous landmark in SF. Now I’m sorry if those of you who are aquainted with both places are offended by my comparisions, but trust me, if you are from SF, Lisbon is a perfectly wonderful place to be connected to in any metaphorical way, even if the comparison is a little weak.  My apologies, sincerely.

Back to the music, Fado is a traditional style that grew out of the difficulties of the immigrant population in Portugal, much like Flamenco music in Spain or the slave music in early America.  Now, it has been popularized and you can hear it any night of the week drifting out from the various upscale Fado houses all across the capital city.  The music is full of emotion and passion, though the particular emotion can range anywhere from playful to melencholy.

Marco’s CD is a perfect example and his hauntingly beautiful voice along with the traditional Portuguese guitar and classical guitar that accompany him…wow. beautifully simple and stunning.  I was blessed to hear Marco live, almost 2 years ago on that weekend visit to Lisbon when my friend and I stumbled quite unawares on a Fado house where he just so happened to be playing.  We were magically transported into the world of Fado sitting at the front of an almost empty house, dimly lit, drinks in hand, completely mesmerized.  We sat almost in silence til the closing time, 2am, soaking it all in. Marco was quite gracious to us, and spoke almost perfect Spanish (albeit with a Portuguese accent), I certainly owed him a shout-out long ago. Hopefully, this makes up for it.

So, if you’re in need of something to take you on a little stay-cation to another world, where everything is worth singing about, and is done with passion and grace…check out some Fado. You will love it.

Check out his myspace for some great examples of his work.