Fado em Si Bemol QB (Vidisco)
by Alex Henderson
When American jazz enthusiasts hear Portuguese-language music, they are often listening to music from Brazil. But there is another Portuguese-language tradition with a rich history: the fado music of Portugal itself. Portugal’s Fado em Si Bemol doesn’t pretend to be fado in the classic Amália Rodrigues/Maria Teresa de Noronha/Carlos do Carmo sense. Rather, it puts an experimental spin on fado, combining it with everything from jazz to tango to Brazilian music. They show us their instrumental side with an intriguing arrangement of Chick Corea’s “Armando’s Rhumba”, which has usually been heard with a Spanish or Afro-Cuban flavor, but the familiar melody sounds perfectly natural with a fado rhythm. Instrumentals, however, are the exception rather than the rule on QB, and singer Pedro Matos shows himself to be a charismatic performer on jazz-influenced offerings such as “Casa da Mariquinhas”, “Marcha do Bairro Alto”, “Matilde” and “Cantigas de Maio.” Matos is no less expressive on “Tango para Teresa,” which blends fado with Argentinean tango (both of which can be melancholy).
Fado em Si Bemol’s performance of Gilberto Gil’s “Sítio do Pica-Pau” will be especially interesting to those who know a lot about Brazilian music. Gil helped pioneer a style of Brazilian pop known as tropicália. Fado em Si Bemol’s version draws on both fado and tropicália and hearing Gil’s lyrics performed with a Portuguese accent rather than a Brazilian one is certainly unusual. But there is no shortage of surprises on QB, which is as rewarding as it is adventurous.♦♦♦
