Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Saudades de Portugal no Brasil



As I type, I am sitting in the living room of minha tia's posh Moema apartment.  The famous summer afternoon rains of São Paulo have decided I should tuck inside today instead of frolicking in the Parque do Ibirapuera.  This is my first visit back to Brasil since Fado Novato began.  Since arriving a few days back,  life has been a nonstop whirlwind of family and eating and shopping and feiras and Chico Buarque on the iPod.  Everything is so cheerful and lively; it seems strange to think that this place with its warm weather, bright colors and beautiful, tan garotas could ever have been part of the roots of something as melancholy as fado.

Yet, after finally settling in for a long stay, my mind drifts back to fado.  As I sit here in this gray light, listening to the chuva pound the windows while my relatives laugh and chat and bicker in the kitchen, I feel fado in this moment.  All that the Portuguese hold dear is alive right here an ocean away.  All at once, I miss it in my ears.  Estou com saudades do fado.

My família brasileira has been so positive in their feedback.  Many have been following us online, on both our Youtube channel and through this very blog.  Much like in Lisbon, fado is rising in popularity with younger intellectuals in the bigger cities.  I have plans to visit two different fado clubs in São Paulo this weekend alone.  My namorado brasileiro, Giuliano, asks why we don't instead go see some música brasileira.  We are, after, in Brasil.  I tell him we'll do that, too.  I would love to see some bossa nova or samba.  But I need to see fado.

Until this weekend, I'll have to tide myself over with this gorgeous tune I am learning, performed by the incomparable Kátia Guerreiro:


In addition, Giuliano found for me this awesome blog by a fadista brasileira, detailing the history of  fado in São Paulo. It's exciting the learn that fado has grown so much here, and this site is a wealth of information.  Enjoy!  (It's in Portuguese, so fire up your Google translators, if need be.)

- Shay Estes

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Media blitz...



If you live in Kansas City maybe you heard about our little fado project last week. We performed live on KSHB channel 41 during a morning show entitled "Kansas City Live." Our sound check was at 7:30am. In my opinion fado is an artform best performed after 4pm. Check out this lovely work of sound and video editing by KSHB's excellent technical staff.

Os Búzios - Jorge Fernando






Suzanne Hogan produced a wonderful piece about our project for "KC Currents" on KCUR (89.3 FM) - Kansas City's local NRP affiliate. It's entitled "Fado Novato, Songs Of Heartache And Struggle." They worked on this piece for quite some time and really did their research.

You can listen to the audio here and enjoy the exceptional photography of Julie Denesha







Thursday, November 22, 2012

Foreign Fadistas

One of the wonderful side effect of having fadonovato.com is the many wonderful fadistas around the world that reach out to us. Here are a handful of correspondences and some links to their work.


_________________________________________________

Ramana Vieirab (California)


"Loved your postings and what you are doing with Fado. Thank you for finding us on twitter.
We have been in California, doing a very similar path as yours we are down the road by ten years.
WE are so thrilled that we are not alone in our passion for Fado and being Americans!

I am luso-americana both my parents are from Madeira, Portugal. I would love to have you like our ensemble

Ramana Vieira and Ensemble----

much obrigada e abracos and Fado!"



http://www.ramanavieira.net/
http://www.facebook.com/RamanaVieiraAndEnsemble
http://www.twitter.com/ramanavieira

_________________________________________________

Karolina Narazińska (Katowice, Poland)


"...but at some point I fell in love with fado, and I am now at the stage of research notes Fadosongs."

_________________________________________________

Núria Piferrer (Barcelona, Spain)

"My stage name is Névoa and I am from Barcelona (Spain). Although I am not portuguese, I am devoted to fado for more than decade. My first album "Fados i fades" was released in 2000 and, until this day, I have four other albums and a DVD, all of them about fado. There are other non portuguese fadistas around the world. You should check.Maybe you are the first american fado formation. Congrats!"

facebook
myspace
spotify
youtube
soundcloud
_________________________________________________

Miguel Á. Fernández Fdez. (Oviedo, Spain)

"Great to know from a fado band from the states!

I do a radio program at National Radio of Spain about fado, and I would be very grateful if you send me any of your CDs or compositions. We will broadcast it and talk about the fado passion at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean."

"I've been running radio programs about world music and fado since 1996. Now I run a radio program at the National Radio of Spain. It'll be a pleasure to listen and broadcast your music.
Follow us at facebook and in twitter @ElFadoenRadio5 ."

_________________________________________________

Sorana Santos (London, England)

"Thank you so much for getting in touch with me via my blog. I love your resources page - I wish I had seen it when I was researching Fado!"

www.soranasantos.com

_________________________________________________

Marcela Ortiz (Mexico City, Mexico)

"Hi! Thanks for the following on Twitter. It's great to see how many of us - foreigners- love fado!"

And check this out! A whole productions of "Fado by Foreigners" with singers from Mexico, Italy, Spain and Cyprus.


_________________________________________________

Stephanie Huffman (Lisbon, Portugal from Kansas City, MO)

"My brother who lives in Kansas City sent me the link to your Fado Novato website. Great project! I admire your dedication! Lovely music."




Thursday, October 25, 2012

The debut


photo: Charles Stonewall

It’s now two weeks after our debut at Grünaer. –Success! - everyone really stepped up and gave it their all. I was amazed at the efforts people made to help us with this project. Shay’s family and friends were unbelievable. They came into the bar like a bee swarm and transformed the venue into a very convincing casa de fado. I think there must have been over two hundred candles.


photo: Charles Stonewall

Musically I couldn’t ask for more -highly prepared, solid performances of all sixteen songs. I personally didn’t feel the nervous jitters of a debut performance. I was more like a giddy little kid all day before the event (a rare occurrence indeed). I suspected that performing this music would be a very intimate situation but one could hear a pin drop in the room. The acoustic qualities of the room are just fantastic and the European vibe suited the music perfectly. We had around fifty people in attendance which is about all that room can handle comfortably. Apparently they drank well judging from the many empty wine glasses on the tables after the show.

photo: Charles Stonewall

During and before the two sets we projected images of Lisbon and famous fadistas behind us on a large screen. We also projected English translations in real-time during the performance of the songs. My wife Zhanna was gracious enough to practice this aspect of the show in advance and operate the computer during the performance. All for the price of two glasses of Spanish Grenache! Many in the audience were grateful for this aspect of the show.



photo: Charles Stonewall

We received many compliments and honest feedback from the knowledgeable patrons in the audience. My good friend Mary Posses (fantastic flutist) brought along UMKC professor of conducting, Steven Davis. He is a dedicated aficionado of fado and lived in Portugal. Steven was seemingly enamored with our presentation and very encouraging.

Honoring guitar maker, Dave Bucher, photo: Charles Stonewall

KCUR (89.3 fm) was there to document and record the process for a future segment dedicated to our project. They sent out one of my favorite photographers Julie Denesha to photograph. Julie is a really brilliant artist and I’ve been following her work with the Roma for many years.  http://www.juliedenesha.com/

 photo: Charles Stonewall

Our good friend and amazing artist Charles Stonewall was also there to photograph. Charles is known for his work in the dance community and is participating in Artist INC II with Shay (The photographs in this post are his work). http://www.charlesstonewall.com/

The following Sunday we had a private performance at The Ship. Jori Sackin shot video and Giuliano Mingucci recorded the audio. Hopefully we’ll be posting these work samples in a few days. 

- Beau

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Thoughts On Our Second Rehearsal - Shay Estes

     There was a beautiful and very humbling moment for me at our most recent Fado Novato rehearsal when we each spontaneously confessed to each other that we are out of our comfort zones on this project.  Jordan, who has played mostly pop and jazz music in his career, is delving into the patient art of the fado accompanist.  He must now hold the ensemble together like an anchor.  This requires perfect time, consistency, sensitivity, and subtlety.  He must be always aware of the soloists' needs for consistency in one moment and then tension or fluidity in the next.  He must add color and texture to the music without distracting from the soloist.  This role is not always the most exciting to play in an ensemble but it is the foundation on which everything else is laid.  In fado, this anchor is the 6-string guitar or viola, and it is the beating heart of the music.  Having long enjoyed the freedom of jazz improvisation and the carefree nature of various kinds of pop music, Jordan is now diligently attending this new, unfamiliar role.
     Beau, while no stranger to soloing on many instruments, finds himself usually more comfortable in Jordan's present role with his present instrument.  He is a classical guitarist first and foremost.  Sure, he is proficient in a multitude of stringed instruments, but he has only been working with his new guitarra for a few weeks.  It is strung and tuned very differently from the 6-string guitar.  It takes him one day for every new tune he must transcribe and work into his fingers.  He confessed that he has cleared much of his schedule and is working on little else leading up to our debut.  While fado is so similar in certain respects to many other styles he plays, the music and the instrument are still quite foreign. 
     For my own part, the differences between what I have done as a  vocalist up to this point and what I am learning now are not just altering the way I use my instrument: they are physically altering my voice.  The Portuguese language is very nasal,* which places a lot of the resonance in the mask of the face.  Fadistas rarely allow their voices to move into the falsetto register, which keeps the bulk of their vocalization in the modal range and resonates heavily and fully in the vocal chords.  An additionally challenging factor is that the key of any given composition is occasionally limited by the respective musical ranges of the guitarra and the viola.
     Finally,  fado lends itself well to natural vibrato.  I have spent most of my life as a vocalist - particularly the last eight years singing jazz - doing exactly the opposite of everything I just mentioned.  I have sung mostly in English, which as a result of the phonetics of the language causes resonance in very different places at very different times than Portuguese, which puts resonance in the nose, the sinuses, the front of the mouth and the forehead.  Through my training in jazz and previously in classical voice, I was taught to develop my falsetto and to suppress and control my vibrato to create bright, clear tones.  It was particularly a big "no-no" to push one's voice too high in the modal range; repeated violent resonance in the vocal chords can cause nodules, a career-ender for many a singer.  A great way to avoid those pesky range problems is always to change the key into something more suitable for one's vocal register.  After all, the piano player has eight octaves to work with!  What does he care?
     The effects of these efforts have been interesting.  As rehearsals commenced and I really dug deeply into our chosen tunes, I began to use my voice much of the time in a way to which I was unaccustomed and untrained, in a language I barely knew, on melodies I was very unsure of, in a part of my range that was weak, with a vibrato I had been holding back for years.  Sound began resonating heavily in my nose, forehead, and throat, with my voice pushing at questionable pitches in the top of my modal range and vibrating them like mad.  As I found out, this will give you headache.  A big headache.  A lot of big headaches.  It will also make your throat sore and horse.  I started to feel guilty about what I was doing to my instrument.  I needed to back off.
     I am not used to learning things slowly, especially not music.  Conquering a lot of Brazilian music took time initially because of the language, but much of it is very musically adaptable.  Within two months of diving deeply in I was digesting it at my usual pace.  To date, nothing has ever gotten me stuck as much as fado, not for the musical difficulty of it but for the sheer physical challenge.  I listen to these fadistas belt out their souls, and I marvel at their strength and endurance like a couch potato watching Michael Phelps win his umpteenth gold medal.  My feelings of doubt and insecurity (and a heaping workload from a few other projects I gleefully prioritized over my fado homework) lead me into Wednesday's rehearsal feeling sheepish and uncharacteristically unprepared.
     Then, a very funny thing happened.  At rehearsal, I listened as two musicians I know to be some of the most talented and hard-working guys in town told me how challenging this has been for them.  I perceive that music comes to these men as easily as breathing, and they confessed their similar frustrations and insecurities.  I realized that I allowed myself to miss the point:  The process is the point.  I am supposed to fail before I can succeed.  I am not going to be Ana Moura overnight.  If I am going to train my voice to do this correctly I must start slowly, just as Mr. Couch Potato probably needs to start with just a few laps a day at the community center before he tries to qualify for Rio in 2016.  I will sound a little awkward at first, but if I keep working at it a little every day I will get better.  No more headaches, no more sore throats.  Baby steps to Lisbon.  I confessed my lack of preparation to the guys, and they were kind to me.
     The good news is that after some rest, I can feel my voice has changed.  My range is broadening and my lower tones are richer and fuller with better pitch and more strength.  I am straining less at the top of my modal range, and the overlap between my modal and falsetto is slowly increasing.  I was worried that too much focused time spent on belting would weaken my falsetto as well, but as it turns out (and some research supports this as happening fairly often) it may actually be strengthening it.  Like any other muscle, I cannot max it out every day like I had been, but the heavy lifting is making it stronger.  Now, to get myself a good trainer.  I wonder if Carminho is taking students...

--Shay

 *By "nasal" I mean that that the Portuguese language contains a greater number of nasal vowels and consonants than English or many other languages.  Nasalization in phonetics refers to the specific and correct pronunciation of a vowel or consonant in which some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound, causing nasal resonance.  In English, this includes sounds like "n" or "m."  This is not to be confused with hypernasal speech, which is increased airflow through the nose during speech causing abnormal resonance in the nasal cavity (to oversimplify, everything a person says sounds tinged with the "n"  sound.) It should also not be confused with hyponasal or denasal speech, in which no air flows on nasal sounds (aka, "mom" sounds like "bob," or stuffy-nose speech.)  These are linguistic terms indicating speech disorders.  I am by no means an authority on either subject, but they are important to distinguish, lest I be accused of insulting the beauty of the Portuguese language.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Notes from the first Fado Novato rehearsal




"A RUA DO CAPELÃO" - Amália Rodrigues

I was pleasantly surprised by how prepared everyone was.  This is a rare occurrence in my experience. I’m really struck by how good the Portuguese guitar and Spanish guitar sound together. They seem to be the perfect dynamic level for one another but the timbres are so different. When Jordan and I play the same chord the music takes on an evocative shimmer that I find very appealing. I also felt the rehearsal had a nice fast pace with little “goofing off’. This is also a rare occurrence! I’m still struggling to play my new instrument by I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it pretty candle light in a casa de Fado!
~ Beau Bledsoe


It was very exciting to finally have all three of us together to play through our rep. Having already performed a handful of these tunes without the addition of the Portuguese guitarra; I was amazed at how much the instrument adds to the songs and how well the guitarra and Spanish guitar fit together. Performing these pieces with two guitars, or guitar and mandolin, just doesn’t compare to the sound of Spanish guitar and Portuguese guitarra. Also, it was a great, and somewhat challenging exercise to play through these songs at slower than the performance tempo. It helped me quite a bit to define my role on guitar.
~ Jordan Shipley

Friday, August 24, 2012

Eurico Cebolo - Beau Bledsoe



As I've mentioned before, there is very little information available to learn Fado or the Portuguese guitar. There is also very little to suggest that Fado is indeed a healthy, vibrant art form. In fact Fado has been placed on the UNESCO endangered cultural heritage list. Many of the of the materials one encounters seem to be from another epoch all together.

Eurico A. Cebolo is a publisher of music instruction books in Portugal similar to Mel Bay here in the U.S.  I bought a beginning Portuguese guitar method from the site of Ron Fernandez  a month or so ago and it's filled with great chord charts and scale studies. 



But the best part of this book is the rather unusual aesthetic of the publisher. 

Portrait of Eurico
And some of the things he writes....



Have a look at some of the wonderfully trippy book covers from Mr. Cebolo. I really love the big blocky fonts.





I just had to share.

- Beau





Monday, August 20, 2012

Our Research & Online Fado Resources

In an attempt to put together thorough materials for this project I have been searching in the most simple and common way to do so these days; online. It is surprising, although maybe it should not be, that there is not a wealth of information on the internet regarding fado. There are some great resources for learning about fado and compilations of scores and books for purchase but they are few and far between compared to extensive resources I found when I started diving into Brazilian music 5 years ago. Also, it is lucky I can get my way around a Portuguese language site since a vast majority of the sites I have found are not translated into English. We have gotten our hands on some great books and recordings through online purchasing and through the local University library. However, we are in need of more resources to reference and the only option is to pool our funds for more specialized books (often times expensive text books for courses on fado). Even though it is making things a little more difficult, it is good for someone like me who too often forgets that not every answer, every resource, and everything relevant can be found online.

For those following our progress we thought it would be a good idea to share what we have found, so that if you are inclined, you may have other resources to explore fado. Check back to our blog and website frequently to get updates on our progress and find more posts about other great fado resources.

http://www.portugal.com/information/fado

http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/genre/content.genre/fado_717/en_US

http://fadotradicional.blogspot.com/

http://www.guitarraportuguesa.org/

We are also doing everything we can to get in touch with those who are behind all of the sites and blogs on fado that we have discovered in hopes that they are receptive to collaboration, and we can work together on the goal of further popularizing fado here in the United States and elsewhere!


~Jordan

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Learning music - Beau Bledsoe

I have a process when learning a new instrument or style of music. I will plunge my self head first into the source of inspiration that made me interested in the first place. In this case Portuguese guitar virtouso, Carlos Paredes. His Composition "Verdes Anos" has haunted me for over a decade blowing around in my head like a dust bunny. I received my Portuguese guitar two days ago from luthier Dave Bucher (a really great instrument) and the first thing I did was tune it up and attempt to learn this haunting melody.

guitarra Portuguesa by Dave Bucher

I found a transcription (musical score made from a recording) on a Portuguese guitar forum but like so many transcriptions on the internet it's not even close. So here it is, my first transcription. BTW, if you're a guitarist and want play this, the instrument is tuned, 1st string to 6th, A, G, D, A, G, C.

Click here for pdf version

I find this a great way to learn music. I use a program called "audiospeed" to slow down, loop and retune  recordings and video. Verdes Anos is a classic tune in Portugal so there are many videos of players on youtube to choose from. I simple watch their fingers slowly and write down what I see and LISTEN very intently. Then I'll make a nice score using the Finale program. I get a real kick out of making nice scores for some reason. It's like learning a new language and publishing your results. I learned to play the guitar in the same way by dropping needles onto slowed down vinyl records (yes I'm that old). This is also how I approached the oud, flamenco guitar and many other styles.  To me it feels like a portal to another place. I can be in 17th century London,  Andalucía or a fado bar in Lisboa. Also I will dream Verdes Anos for a few days. This ALWAYS happens. I believe it's my brain wiring up what it's learned and practicing.

Audiospeed


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Fado in the Kansas City Summer Heat


Last weekend Shay and Jordan had the chance to perform a few fados with their Brazilian group Mistura Fina, which includes Michael McClintock on guitar in the video below, during their performance for the Kansas City Guitar Society's "Concert in the Park" series this past Sunday (see very rough video below). I was struck by the audience’s response to the fado we performed.  It was at the end of an hour set and it was over 100 degrees but the audience seemed renewed, excited, and surprised by the fado and the contrast between the Brazilian music we were performing and the Portuguese fado. It seems that fado can not be performed without demanding attention and quiet from the audience which I think is in line with the conservative and traditional nature of how fado is performed (referring to the black shoal and how the vocalist is to hold a certain pose and not move their bodies too overtly). It was striking how the mood of the performance changed for the final three pieces as we performed a selection of modern fado including Rosa Branca and O Gente da Minha Terrra originally performed by Mariza, and Os Buzios originally performed by Ana Moura (See video below for a short rough clip of Os Buzios).

~Jordan
 

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Learning the history fado - Jordan Shipley

I have been working on general transcriptions and arrangements of a handful of modern fado composition and new recordings of classic fado but just recently started to embark on learning about the traditional forms of fado and the characteristics that define each form. We are in the process of filling out are set list and I am excited about the great resources we already have that will make us able to add in great songs that will be examples of the wide range of fado forms. Reading through translations that we have been able to find and doing my best rough translations from my knowledge of Brazilian Portuguese is a great lesson in the cultural history of Portugal, and especially of Lisbon and Coimbra, as many of the songs are a beautiful description of the life of the people in different neighborhoods in those cities. There are many nostalgic love songs for each city and their diverse various neighborhoods.

The evolution of fado, from the different musical influences absorbed by fado over the years, to the different castes of society that took part in the creation of the music is very fascinating to me. I look forward to reading more about how fado went from the music of those in society who were looked down upon and on the fringes of society, to being performed by Portuguese royalty. I have read in Donald Cohen's book "Fado Portugues" that the term fadista was at one time used as an insult to anyone believed to be unseemly or outcast from society, and I am fascinated to learn more about that transition and the history of fado.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Unhas - fingernails - Beau Bledsoe


I've attempted to make my own finger picks for playing the Portuguese guitar. This is a traditional practice that most of the guitarists utilize in Portugal. I have my own nails that I use to play so I think I may by pass on this practice altogether. Plus my hero Carlo Paredes seems to get along just fine without these artificial nails. But my family is out of town and I recently built a new work bench in the basement. Let us begin. Using the youtube video here and here I managed to initiate myself into yet another bizarre practice of the Portuguese guitar.




materials needed: CD case, slide, dremel tool, drill, scissors, surgical tape, exacto blade,  2X4, ruler, safety glasses, beer



















drill hole



















insert slide, note: failed other hole (too small)



















assemble "mold"



















cut acrylic piece out of CD case



















drill hole for finger



















heat brass slide and attempt to mold acrylic into a curve. Fail miserably



















Try cutting a shape out of a pill bottle



















success!

They go on the fingers like so.

Again...I think I may have to not use these. We'll see.















Renaissance madman - Beau Bledsoe

On July 16th, we all loaded up into a couple of cars and headed out to the home of Dave Bucher in Raytown, Missouri. There we received the grand tour of his home, libraries and guitar shop. Giuliano Mingucci helped us document the event. I edited down the half day into this 20 minute video of Dave explaining his construction methods, what inspires him and many historical lesson regarding musical instruments and art.

Personally I was struck by his "three elements" statement of instrument construction at the end of the video. In order; aesthetic, playability and then sound. For a musician, sound is usually the first thing - naturally. I once owned a really great sounding Conde Hermanos flamenco guitar that looked like a twelve year old had built it. But it had "the sound" that made their Madrid workshop so very famous. On the other hand, when I moved to Kansas City I apprenticed at a violin shop and learned much about violin construction. One day, The owner of the shop told me that Stradavarious was nothing more than a fine, methodical builder that used good materials. He also claimed that all we could aspire to do was to copy Michelangelo's David over and over again. The violin being a perfect form like David. Antonio Stradavarious and his Cremona contemporaries had perfected the violin design. Nothing more to add.

The sound of Dave's Portuguese guitar still remains unknown.  It sits in his workshop now, finish drying. It will be ready for strings in about two weeks. I hope his "three elements" ring true in the sound of the instrument. He certainly has aesthetics nailed down.

- Beau


Sunday, July 15, 2012

What is this strange thing called a Portuguese guitar? - Beau Bledsoe



Today I received this in my inbox…"I keep checking back for updates!!!! What's happening? How about posting links to some samples on You Tube or something? What the heck IS a Portuguese guitar anyway? Inquiring musical minds would like updates. Thanks,"

Oh how flattered I am that someone is interested! Well reader, No new samples yet but I’d love to answer the guitar question.

The Portuguese guitar is an unusual instrument that bares little resemblance to the Spanish guitar that I play everyday. In fact that instrument is called the “viola” in Portugal. Confused yet?


Although there is much debate, most agree that it’s a direct descendant of the English guitar from the 1700’s, which is really a cittern. The cittern is a pear shaped string instrument that was very popular all over Europe dating from the Renaissance. For hundreds of years it was the premier instrument of casual music making much as is the guitar today.

English guitar
woman with cittern




It’s playing technique can be dated back to the 17th century. The instrument employs a very old right hand technique called “dedilho” or “dedillo in Spanish”. The fingers of the plucking hand are almost parallel to the strings and only the thumb and forefinger are used with few exceptions. The pinky finger rests on the soundboard which will surely give all of my former classical guitar teachers massive heart attacks. Observe the hand position in the oil painting below compared to the record cover of Portuguese guitar legend Carlos Paredes. Also many lutenists utilize a similar technique. In the Portuguese style, the right corner of the nail is used to pluck the string but many modern players have moved to using artificial nails made from tortoise shell or plastic. 




















Another esoteric feature is that I have to make my own strings! I feel like those monastic oboe players that spend many hours diligently making their own reeds. Actually it’s not so bad. I have to buy the wire strings in spools and make my own loops at each end of the string using my new "alicate" (string winder). I understand that this is what many guitarists had to do in ye olden days.





I also have to get around to making my own “unhas” or artificial nails to play the guitar with. Thanks to the unusually thorough youtube videos of Ron Fernandez I think I’m going to be able to do this project with my dremel tool, some empty pill bottles and surgical tape. It all just gets more and more strange.





Oh…and for musicians only – Look at how this thing is tuned! Lord help me.





One aesthetic detail of the Portuguese guitar that I'm absolutely enamored with are the "Preston tuners" that grace the head of the instrument like a proud peacock. This design was invented by London guitar maker, John Preston (1753 - 1700). These are also know as "watch key" tuners.




My Portuguese guitar, made by my friend Dave Bucher, is supposed to be completed in mid August so I’ll let you know how things progress. I really hope this helps everyone grasp this strange and beautiful instrument because I'm still thoroughly mystified.

- Beau


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Finalidade - Shay Estes

The Artist Inc II application is finally finished, away, and out of my hands.  This is always a beautiful, if slightly nerve-wracking feeling, although it makes little difference; the project has already taken on a life of its own.  I am confident that the acceptance or refusal of one grant will not delay or halt our progress.  The three of us are far too obsessed with Fado at this point, and we must make this music.  If you're interested in a "why," here is mine: 
     
My obsession with the Portuguese language grew out a love of Brazilian music and all other things brasileiro. As part of my artistic method requires cultural understanding, I have been visiting and studying Brazil for the last three years, learning not just its music, but its history and culture. Inevitably, my interest in Brazil lead me to Portugal. To deepen my understanding of the language and people of the Brazil, a country that for me has become nearly a second home, I felt I must understand the relationship and effect that Portugal had on its colonies and particularly the backwash of music and culture that Portugal's colonies had on it. One amazing result of that relationship is Fado (which means "fate,") and exploring it felt like the natural next step.

As a musician, I find I often need new projects to provide a fresh perspective on my art and to challenge my instrument in new ways. I have found in Fado a style of music that suits itself uniquely to my voice, particularly my range, timbre, and vibrato, allowing me to develop and emphasize certain vocal characteristics that other genres do not. The dramatic nature of the music and emotionally-charged performance style of the fadista  utilizes my background in theater in a more prominent way than many of my other projects allow.

Additionally, Beau and I have been looking for a project to work on together for years, as have he and Jordan. The common realization of our individual budding obsessions with Fado, and a couple of conveniently-timed deadlines, (AI II and an all-Fado wedding full of honest-to goodness Portuguese – all in the same week) told us that the stars had aligned on this project; it was to be – quite literally – our fate.

Beijos,

Shay

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Fado Novato - Jordan Shipley



My recent re-discovery of this passionate and melancholy music from Portugal when approached to prepare an authentic Fado performance for an upcoming Portuguese wedding in the Midwestern U.S. city of Kansas City, Missouri was a welcome surprise. I was introduced to Fado slowly during the last 5 to 6 years at various points during my study of the Portuguese language and the music of Brazil. I have intensely studied the music of Brazil for several years including a nearly two month stay in Brazil spread between São Paulo and Rio de Janiero. Spurred by my love of the music of Brazil I began study of the Portuguese language in 2008 to prepare for my stay in Brazil. Fado was first introduced to me by my language teachers and Portuguese speaking friends and I was immediately enchanted by the emotion and raw power expressed by often only voice, guitarra (Portuguese guitar) and viola (nylon-string guitar). The music of Brazil draws direct influence from Portuguese musical traditions and traditions that people brought to Brazil from Africa during colonization and slavery in Brazil and other Portuguese colonies; which has in turn inspired the traditions of Fado music in Portugal. I am excited and overwhelmed by the task of learning the history behind this immensely expressive music and the people and culture which created Fado.




I have always had a love for the study of other cultures, music, and foreign languages which all come together with the study of Fado; a musical culture somewhat unknown within the United States. I have a background and love for playing the traditional music of Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and a solid background in Jazz and Blues music from the United States and other styles of music unique to the cultures that created them and strongly influence by the colonization of the Americas. 
I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenging process of transcribing and arranging the music that I have been commissioned to produce and that will help spark the beginning of Fado Novato. Even with the somewhat simple structure of the music, and specifically the pieces I have been working with, the re-harmonization during each section of the songs, and subtly of each part, made the process fascinating and quite challenging. The bass lines and ever changing accompaniment provided by the nylon string guitar, and flourishing Fado guitar phrases, seem to propel the music forward and provide support for the captivating melodies. The swing and identifying feel of the music is quite familiar to me; which I believe might be because of the shared influences between Fado and the traditional urban music of Brazil created in the last two centuries. 
I share with Beau a strong love for the study of other plucked string instruments and I am looking forward to learning the Fado guitar and commissioning one of my own in the future. So far I have been making due by playing the Portuguese guitar parts on either mandolin, acoustic guitar, or a Brazilian steel-stringed version of the ukulele called cavaquinho.

– Jordan Shipley

Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Portuguese guitar - Beau Bledsoe



Putting together a new Fado music project from almost nothing is a very exciting and daunting task and to publicly share the process on the internet even more frightening. I've long been very attracted to Fado in a sort of femme fatale way for many years. I often thought to myself "you really should stay away from that Fado girl...what a disaster she is." It's stylistic connections to Argentine tango and Andalusian flamenco make Fado feel familiar to me. It's simplicity of form and long standing conservative tendencies are also very attractive. I also believe Fado to be the saddest music I've ever heard so what's not to like?

My dear friend Christine Brebes turned me on to guitarist Carlos Paredes in the '90s and of course the fado/pop group Madredeus was huge then. I also loved the Wim Wenders movie "Lisbon Story" featuring Madredeus. I've recently commissioned a Portuguese guitar to be made by local Kansas City luthier David Bucher. He specializes in building bouzoukis and citterns which are very close relatives to the Portuguese guitar. I have never played one in my life but I suspect I will really enjoy it. I'm currently collecting the extremely sparse material available for this esoteric guitar style. I managed to find Portuguese Guitar: Fados and Counter-Melodies Book 1 by Eurico Cebolo from this fine website by Portuguese guitarist, Ron Fernandez.





The Portuguese guitar is tuned very strangely in no way similar to the normal guitar and to make things worse, the Portuguese guitar tradition is divided into two factions, Lisboa and Coimbra. I've decided on the later because it is the style of Carlos Paredes and the instrument is slightly bigger and tuned a whole-step lower than the Lisboa guitar. I located the book Portuguese Guitar Method: basic techniques for the Coimbra Guitar by Paolo Soares but it has long been out of print. My good friend Libby Hanssen from the UMKC library located a copy via inter library loan. I am most grateful to her for this. My Coimbra guitar will be completed in early August and I'm very anxious to get my hands on her.

- Beau Bledsoe