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.

Ravishing is the word that springs to the lips: one of those tiresome British understatements, but it'll have to do. Evora has the most glorious voice, the melodies are heartrendingly Portuguese, the guitar-runs have escaped from a fado recording. The classic piano and string group of Miss Perfumada help explain its near-bestselling status, the near-Brazilian rhythms add the zip that tops the whole thing off.

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. Not that it's not a gorgeous album; it enfolds the ears like silk; Mariza herself has never sounded more seductive, and the cello on "Quando Me Sinto So" is as warm and inviting as a lover's kiss.

Para Além da Saudade is the third studio album bu Portuguese Fado singer Ana Moura. It was released in 2007 and published by World Village and Universal. Contains 15 tracks, with the opening theme, "Os Búzios," it became Ana Moura's most commercial single to date. The album met with favourable reviews. Rascunho gave the album a favourable review and said: "Leafing through the pages of the small book that accompanies this third record of original, never fail to jump out at you names like Faust, Amélia Muge, Patxi Andeon or Tim Reies - the latter surely the most unsuspecting strangers, but also not sounding that the oddness of names.

Concerto em Lisboa is an album released on November 6, 2006 by fado singer Mariza. It was nominated in 2007 for a Latin Grammy in the category of Best Folk Album, becoming the first Portuguese artist to receive a nomination for a Latin Grammy Award. The album was released on both DVD and CD. Recorded in 2005, the concert took place in the gardens in front of Torre de Belém, in the neighborhood of Lisbon. Mariza was accompanied by an orchestra, Sinfonietta de Lisboa, conducted by Jaques Morelenbaum, the producer and arranger of her album, Transparente. The concert was attended by around 25.000 persons. Concerto em Lisboa contains live interpretations of the songs from Transparente, and also from Mariza's first and second albums, re-arranged for orchestra—including "Medo", "Há uma música do Povo", "Meu Fado Meu', "Cavaleiro Monge", "Há Palavras Que Nos Beijam", and "Ó Gente Da Minha Terra".

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 Tradicional is the fifth studio album by Portuguese fado singer Mariza, released on 29 November 2010 by EMI Music Portugal. It was recorded in the Lisboa Estúdios in Portugal between July and September 2010 and produced by musician Diogo Clemente. Fado Tradicional received positive reviews from music critics, both in Portugal and internationally. Fado Tradicional was a certified platinum record in Portugal on the day of its release, for the sale of more than 20,000 copies.

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.

On her first album, Fado em Mim, Mariza covered four songs by the late queen of fado, Amália Rodrigues, drawing a specific parallel to her predecessor. On her second album, Fado Curvo, she covers only one, "Primavera," which may suggest that she is starting to put her inspiration behind her. But she remains true to the traditional sound and mood of fado, even if the album title implies that she is giving it her own twist. Producer Carlos Maria Trindade provides spare, acoustic, and rhythmic arrangements, focusing on the Portuguese guitar of Mário Pacheco, but for the most part he stays out of the singer's way, using the accompaniment merely to anchor her expressive vocals.

The music on Ainda was the soundtrack for the film Lisbon Story by the German director Wim Wenders. Wenders had known the band before and appreciated their music very much, so he decided that they should not only write the soundtrack but also appear and act as themselves in the film. The songs on this album are of a deep tranquility and beauty; they make one want to board the next plane to Lisbon and roam the steep, narrow streets of the Portuguese capital in search of the essence of life…

Few artists of any nation have created such a passionate and human statement on political themes as Waldemar Bastos, while at the same time, expertly explores musical styles from across the African continent, creating a sensual and sensational statement. From the opening track "Sofrimento," a tender lament for Angola, this singer/songwriter casts a spell that lingers long after the last note has faded.

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.