|  |
This is brand new (shrinkwrapped/cellophane)
PLEASE LOOK IN OUR SHOP ON E-BAY
We have many other original, difficult to find DVD's and CD's - ranging from the Damned to Louis Armstrong. Also many genre's of music including Acid Jazz, Soul, Relaxation, Broadway & Musical, World Music, Latin American, Cult TV & Film Themes, Celtic, Blues, Country, Reggae, Ragga, Pop Greats...to name only a few.
Title
Cafe Portugal
Subtitle
Fado & Football, Ceramics & Sun
Artist
Various |
Format: CD
Cat. No.: METRCD126
Barcode: 698458112620
Playing Time: 54:36
| | | | The melancholic strains of the ‘Portuguese blues’ are at their most intense in the rustic port of Lisbon. From echoes of the past to the promise of the future, Café Portugal will take you there with a selection of fados that evoke the city’s dreamy night-time ambience. See Reviews |
Track List
| 1 |
Amália Rodrigues – Fado Lisboeta | |
| 2 |
Luz Sá Da Bandeira – Fado Pechincha | |
| 3 |
Anabela – Cabeça De Vento | |
| 4 |
Filipe Duarte – Sempre Que Lisboa Canta | |
| 5 |
Beatriz Da Conceição – Lisboa É Testemunha | |
| 6 |
Tereza Tarouca – Visita A Alfama | |
| 7 |
Fernando Mauricio – Igreja De Santo Estevão | |
| 8 |
Vasco Rafael – Ouve Lisboa | |
| 9 |
Maria Da Fé – Nome De Rua | |
| 10 |
José Pracana – Pelas Ruas Da Cidade | |
| 11 |
Beatriz Da Conceição – Lisboa Garrida | |
| 12 |
Margarida Bessa – Gaivota | |
| 13 |
Argentina Santos – Passeio Fadista | |
| 14 |
Argentina Santos – Duas Glórias | |
| 15 |
Francisco Martinho – Velha Lisboa | |
| 16 |
Carlos Mendes – Calçada De Carriche | |
| 17 |
Lenita Gentil – Lisboa | |
| 18 |
Amália Rodrigues – Fado Alfacinha | | |
|
| |
|
| Sleevenotes |
|
Paulo's plans for Café Portugal were very nearly complete. His dream of recreating the shady intimacy of one of Portugal’s small fado restaurants in the middle of London had taken shape over the last three months.
With a little imagination and quite a lot of plaster, his sculptor friend Luisa had managed to make the existing columns of the venue resemble - or at least suggest - the magnificent 15th and 16th century Manueline architecture of their native city. And even though the gorgeous hand-painted tiles that covered so many older houses in Lisbon were impossible to buy now, they'd found some that created a similar effect.
'All we need now is a TV going full blast, showing whatever match Benfica or Sporting are playing' he chuckled to himself as he pondered how many of London's more humble Portuguese establishments advertised their devotion to 'the beautiful game'. But no, Café Portugal was going to be aimed more at the locals (and those with a little more money!) rather then the ex-pat crowd. Besides, he didn't think fado and football made a good mix and he knew which of the two he preferred. Now, bullfighting, that was a different story! The sight of young 'forcados' being tossed through the air on the horns of angry ungulates made for spectacular photographs, several of which adorned the walls.
It seemed somehow appropriate that there were several very beefy dishes on the menu. But that was only the start of what he liked to think of as a roll call of all that made Portuguese cooking so satisfying. 'Perhaps even a little too satisfying', Paulo thought with a fleeting sense of disquiet as he contemplated his steadily growing girth. There was nothing remotely 'lite' about his cooking and not even much you could call vegetarian on offer.
The menu was basically divided into two categories; 'Peixe/Mariscos' (fish/seafood) or 'Carne'(meat) just like they were in so many of the places in Portugal. Okay, so there might be a different way to prepare 'bacalhau' (salted cod) for every day of the year back home, but they'd have to settle for just a handful here, like 'bacalhau à Gomes de Sá'. The sumptuous combination of salt cod cooked in the oven with potatoes, onion and egg was one of Paulo's signature dishes. 'Lulas' (squid) and 'linguado' (sole) were easy to come by at Billingsgate fish market, as were 'sardinhas', but he'd wisely decided to give 'perceves' (goose barnacles) a miss. Meat-eaters were in for a lip-smacking time of it, with a multitude of dishes that included 'frango no churrasco' (barbecued chicken), 'cozido' stew, and a 'chafana' casserole of goat. There were even one or two dishes that had both seafood and meat, such as the wonderful 'porco à alentejana' (pork with clams) - his personal favourite. It was a 'surf 'n' turf' kind of place, as the English would probably say. As for desserts, one couldn't do without 'pastéis de nata', those flaky custard tartlets that had become so trendy in London lately.
For the final touch, he'd compiled a selection of his favourite fados to play while the customers tucked into their enormous meals. It was the next best thing to having a fado group play live in the restaurant and maybe he'd even consider having one do so in the near future. After all, you didn't need to bother with a sound system, since singers in Lisbon's more intimate clubs generally sing without microphones. And the instruments most 'fadistas' perform with are all acoustic - the brightly ringing 12-stringed Portuguese guitar, a Spanish guitar and a double bass.
OK, there were a couple of exceptions on his compilation, like the smoochy sax on Margarida Bessa's version of 'Gaivota', and the big string arrangement on 'Calçada de Carriche'. But Paulo was no purist, and anyway, such things were not uncommon. He'd even included a song by the young singer Anabela, whose 'Cabeça do Vento' was as much influenced by Cuban music as Portuguese.
But whatever liberties Paulo took with tradition, he knew that no fado compilation would be complete without at least one song by the great Amália Rodrigues. So, to be on the safe side, he'd included two. Though he'd never actually seen the undisputed queen of fado himself, she was a national heroine in Portugal and widely acknowledged as the greatest 'fadista' of all time. Her death in 1999 had thrown the whole country into mourning. It was hardly surprising that ever since her amazing career had started, fado had been dominated by women, who all inevitably suffered by being compared to the music's greatest diva - and found wanting. That was one reason why women outnumbered men by two to one on Paulo's tape.
One fado singer he had seen in the flesh was the great Argentina Santos, who (as far as he knew) still ran her own fado restaurant in Lisbon, occasionally emerging from the kitchen to serenade her guests. She would puff out her chest like some broody old pigeon, clenching her long black shawl, screwing her eyes tightly shut and then opening them almost in surprise as one of her long whining phrases unravelled itself. That voice took a bit of getting used to, he acknowledged, but it had got so far under his own skin that he couldn't resist including a couple of her precious fados.
Another performer he knew from the Lisbon scene was Fernando Mauricio. A well-known fado veteran, Fernando could still be heard singing in the city's more authentic establishments - often more for his love of the music than any financial reward. He was known there as 'the King of Mouraria' after one of Lisbon's most ancient neighbourhoods, which had produced many a great 'fadista' over the years - old Lisbon, or 'Velha Lisboa', as Francisco Martinho put it in the closing song. Paulo was confident that Londoners would soon succumb to Café Portugal's many charms. Even the vegetarians!
Jon Lusk.
Jon Lusk is a New Zealand –born writer and photographer living in London. He specializes in popular and unpopular music from around the world. | |
Powered by eBay Turbo Lister
|
Track up to 10 items on this computer in 
)
