Fado em Alfama - Lisboa - Part 2

Fado em Alfama

First off all, sorry for the delay for my second “Portugal Experience” post, but here is number 2 - Alfama!

In my all too short visit to Lisbon during the first week of 2013 I regret I did not have much time to explore many (most) of the great Fado houses, even within Lisbon, let alone any in Coimbra, O Porto, or elsewhere in Portugal and surrounding islands, each with their own important contributions to Fado. However I fell in love with the neighborhood I was most consistently pointed towards when asking Portuguese friends and others who had visited Lisbon before, Alfama. I was able to experience Fado Vadio (Neighborhood/directly translated bohemian, fado, to the best of my knowledge) to the professional and highly trained fadistas at Mario Pacheco’s Clube de Fado.

Here is one of my favorite performances I heard while in Portugal. Possibly “Fado da Heranca” (but not completely sure) performed by Cristina at Clube de Fado.  Was the last set of the night around 1:45am and really made an impact on me. Even after the surprise of walking in to hear Cuca Roseta singing the song she performed for the Carlos Saura "FADO" movie (which is what introduced me to fado in the first place, sometimes life comes full circle!). Cuca Roseta performing “A Rua do Capelao” can be found in my previous blog post.

Cristina @ Mario Pacheco’s Clube de Fado in Alfama

Cuca Roseta & Miguel Capucho @ Clube de Fado

Here are some more photos from wondering and getting lost around Alfama:

Inside of Clube de Fado during set break:

I started my first night of fado at Tasco de Chico in Barrio Alto before heading to Clube de Fado in Alfama. It was a very interesting experience. To be completely honesty I was not very impressed with the quality of the music and vocal performances at the venue in Barrio Alto, but the atmosphere was very unique in relation to any other small/dive bars I have ever visited anywhere in the world.

On another note, my experience at Tasco de Chico in Alfama my last night in Lisbon was a different experience. My girlfriend Leslie and I both had a great time being forced into meeting many other people at the bar because of the picnic style table seating, and even with the language barrier the set up of the bar got us talking and interacting with those around us. That night at Tasco de Chico also included several incredible performances by amateurs, in the best sense of the word! Once I get the audio files converted I will make my third post with the recorded examples I have from the fado vadio bars I visited!

Ate Logo!

Jordan