Awarded by Songlines Magazine as 2015's best album, “Mundo” marks the awaited return to records of the most international Portuguese artist after a five year interregnum (the previous record, "Fado Tradicional" was released in 2010). During that period, Mariza released her first "Best Of" in 2014. Still on the charts, “Mundo” debuted at number 1 on the Portuguese Top. Produced by Javier Limón (multiple Grammy winner and producer of the record “Terra”, released in 2008), “Mundo” features 14 songs, including the singles “Paixão”, “Melhor de Mim” and “Alma”.

An unmistakable expressive voice. Spacious music based on fado. This is "Fado Camões", the new album by Portuguese singer and composer, LINA_ to be released worldwide on 19 January 2024 on the German label Galileo Music. “Fado Camoes” is a unique composition based on the classic poetry of Portugal’s most celebrated historical poet, Luís Vaz de Camões and follows on from the critically acclaimed album “Lina_Raül Refree” which celebrated the songs of Amália.

The former Portuguese colony of Cape Verde lies 600 kilometers off the Senegalese coast. Among the many local musical styles that can be heard on the island is the morna. The principle practitioner of this purportedly Portuguese-, Angolan-, and Brazilian-influenced musical form is Cesaria Evora. This CD documents two concerts morna master Evora gave in June of 1993 at the Olympia in Paris. With incredible ease and visceral strength, Evora sings song after song about love, loss, longing, and longevity. Minor-key and blues-sounding accompaniment is provided by a sextet on piano, harmonica, violin, guitar, clarinet, and cavaquinho (a four-string lute). A must-have for any morna fan, Cesaria Evora's A Live a L'Olympia highlights the good-natured "barefoot diva" at her best and in front of her devoted fans.

Transparente is Mariza's "big" album, it seems, the one designed to make her more than just the shining star of the new fado. The music connects the dots between Portugal and Brazil, giving an international quality to it all. Her voice is as crystal clear as ever, and production by Jacques Morelenbaum is wonderfully transparent. Yet there's a sheen to it all that seems intended to rub off any rough edges. You can hear it in the soft strings that cushion "Meu Fado Meu." It just seems to be trying too hard, rather than letting the music unfold. It's apparent, too, in the fact that the songs are all short – the longest barely passes three-and-a-half minutes.

Gifted with an expressive and powerful soprano, charting and platinum-selling fado singer Mariza is a superstar of the fado movement with a global following. Though she always works within fado's traditional boundaries, she takes chances by engaging elements of folk traditions from her native Mozambique, the southern reaches of her home in Portugal, Brazil, and even further afield: Her repertoire, while firmly rooted in classical and contemporary fado, has grown to include occasional Cape Verdean mornas, R&B and Motown classics, and any other music she holds dear at any given time. With the release of her debut album Fado Em Mim in 2001, her reputation in Portugal was equaled internationally.

Though she's undoubtedly resigned to nearly eternal comparisons with Amalia Rodrigues, the master of Portugal's fado, Mariza's debut album finds her breaking out of the mold from the beginning. Newcomers to the fado will quickly become familiar with the style from the plaintive crystal of Mariza's voice and her evocative guitar accompaniment, but her delivery occasionally recalls jazz or the blues. Double bassist Ricardo Cruz and pianist Tiago Machado help carry the effervescent "Poetas," while light percussion adds a note of intrigue on the closer, "Barco Negro."

Fado is to the Portuguese what the blues is to America: it is the yearning, bloody, naked soul exposed. This 150-year-old art form is so inseparable from its people that it has become the sum of Portugal's cultural identity. The undisputed queen of fado, Amalia Rodriques, is the jewel to which all other performers are compared. Misia, like her native Portugal, is reverent to tradition as well as mindful of the future. Her love for fado is not without a contemporary flair, and although she is perhaps the most celebrated current interpreter of the genre, her work has received an equal amount of praise and outrage. The haunting Canto finds the perfect middle ground between old and new, fusing lyrics by existing Portuguese poets with (12-string) guitarra and the husky cadences of Misia's otherworldly voice. Inspired by composer Carlos Paredes, Misia brings in a classical string quintet, resulting in a serendipitous blend of modern drama that transcends nationalities. The pairing of traditional with classical is seamless, lending an added weight to the already heavy material. These are songs that travel like bullets to the heart, speaking the oldest language know to mankind: despair. Highly Recommended.

Vinylogy label presents the new 5CD box set including 5 original albums of the great artists. All the recordings are digitally remastered in superb high quality sound by 32bit/44,1kHz sampling rate. Each of the discs are packed in a beautiful miniature LP paper sleeve. The best choice for music fans and collectors.

“Júlio Resende has the profound ability to reinvent Portugal’s trademark deep, emotional music through the piano,” says the respected world music magazine Songlines of the Portuguese pianist/composer. Resende’s concept of Fado Jazz is a perfect example of how jazz has become a global language for free musical expression – a concept which has been fundamental to ACT ever since its foundation over 30 years ago. The freedom of the Portuguese people is closely associated with the Carnation Revolution of 1974, and Júlio Resende has dedicated “Sons of Revolution” to it. The peaceful overthrow of dictator Salazar not only paved the way for democracy but also marked the end of colonial wars in Mozambique and Angola. “Without the revolution, I wouldn’t even exist,” says Júlio Resende. “My father is from Angola, he emigrated to Portugal after the revolution, and met my mother.”

Cesária Évora was a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Diva" for performing without shoes, she was also known as the "Queen of Morna". A native of the island nation of Cape Verde, Cesária Évora was known as the country's foremost practitioner of the morna, which is strongly associated with the islands and combines West African percussion with Portuguese fados, Brazilian modhinas, and British sea shanties. Évora began singing morna at age 16 after meeting an attractive young guitarist. Her talent soon had her performing all over the islands, and in the late '60s two of her radio tapes were released as albums in the Netherlands and Portugal, respectively.

Cristina Branco is a critically acclaimed Portuguese fado artist who has mesmerized audiences worldwide with her soulful voice and profound musicality. With a career spanning over two decades, Branco has released numerous successful albums, captivating listeners with her unique interpretations of traditional fado and her exploration of contemporary musical expressions. Recognized for her exceptional artistry, Branco has garnered international acclaim and established herself as a leading figure in the world of fado. With an unwavering passion for traditional fado, she delivers a poignant homage to this emblematic musical genre deeply ingrained in Portuguese culture. Mark your calendars for her upcoming 18th studio album, “Mãe” (“Mother”) release on September 22nd.

Terra feels like an attempt to move Mariza into the musical mainstream. She's already established herself at the forefront of fado, as one of the leading performers of the emotive Portuguese style, and there's no doubt she possesses a wonderful voice. But the addition of several guests, such as Chucho Valdés, Ivan Lins, and Tito Paris (among others) seems to open up the seams between fado and other genres, including Brazilian music and jazz. It does so relatively subtly, and she keeps her base pretty firmly in fado (witness the glorious "Ja Me Deixou"). Her duet with Paris on "Beijo de Saudade" is a highlight, and the voices play off each other gloriously, hers pure and clear, his gruff and harsh. Ultimately, the question is whether it all works, and it does, because it doesn't try to do too much, just a small re-positioning, although what the future will bring remains to be seen.