Carlos do Carmo | |
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![]() Carlos do Carmo in 2007 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Carlos Manuel de Ascenção do Carmo de Almeida |
Born | [1] Lisbon, Portugal | 21 December 1939
Died | 1 January 2021 81) Lisbon, Portugal | (aged
Genres | Fado |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Years active | 1964–2020 |
Labels | Universal Music |
Associated acts |
Carlos Manuel de Ascenção do Carmo de Almeida ComIH (21 December 1939 – 1 January 2021), better known as Carlos do Carmo, was a Portuguese fado singer.
The son of Lucília do Carmo, a well-known fadista, do Carmo began his career in fado following his father's death in 1962, when he returned from a period in Switzerland to help his mother run the family's fado house. He began singing himself shortly afterwards and, in 1963, he began his career as a recording artist. He continued working at the fado house for a number of years, while also expanding his recording career. [2] He achieved national and international success in the 1970s, including performances at the Royal Opera House in London and the Paris Olympia. He represented Portugal at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with his song "Uma flor de verde pinho", finishing in 12th place.
Carmo introduced new styles to fado, including the addition of orchestras, and the incorporation of other styles such as jazz into the traditional music.
Carlos do Carmo grew up in Lisbon. His mother was Lucília do Carmo, a fado singer who experienced success in the 1920s. [3] He first left Lisbon in his youth, on the advice of his parents, to study languages and hotel management in Switzerland. [4] But, with the death of his father Alfredo de Almeida in 1962, do Carmo soon joined his mother to help her run their fado house, the Faia. [5] Encouraged by his friends' response to his singing, do Carmo soon began to perform at the fado house. [2]
Do Carmo's career thrived in the 1970s, when he released several of his most well-known songs and collaborated with a number of opponents to the Estado Novo regime, such as Fernando Tordo, Paulo de Carvalho and the poet Ary dos Santos. [6] Following the Carnation Revolution, fado saw its place as the Portuguese national music threatened by the emergence of canção de intervenção, a term encompassing Portuguese protest songs. Fado also started to lose exposure on the radio and on television; according to musicologist Rui Vieira Nery , do Carmo was an exception to this trend, because of his connection to "sectors of the democratic opposition". [7]
In 1976, in the first Festival da Canção after the revolution, the organizers of the contest tried to emulate A Song for Europe's method of national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. The procedure employed by their British counterparts consisted of choosing a single artist who would perform all the songs in the contest. [8] Do Carmo was chosen as the only singer of that year's Festival da Canção and the winner of the contest was the song "Uma flor de verde pinho". Later that year, he represented his country at the Eurovision Song Contest with the same song, [9] finishing in 12th place. [8]
In 1977, do Carmo released Um Homem na Cidade (transl. A Man in the City), a concept album featuring an array of poems about Lisbon by Ary dos Santos. [9] The album became one of the greatest successes of do Carmo's long career, [10] and was described by Nery as being "one of the most significant albums in the whole fado discography". [9] Um Homem na Cidade evinced a new, innovative style of fado. [11] Its lyrics, while not necessarily supportive of the revolution, referenced current affairs of the time. [12]
While fado remained at the core of his music, do Carmo was influenced, among other styles and musicians, by Frank Sinatra; French pop, including the work of Jacques Brel; and Brazilian bossa nova, including the work of Elis Regina. [13] [14] (He performed with Regina on a trip to Brazil in 1973. [5] ) His uniqueness, apart from the special timbre of his voice, is in his ability to bring composers from other styles such as jazz, as well as adding the orchestra to fado music. This is seen in his albums such as Um Homem na Cidade. [3]
In 1984, he recorded Um Homem no País, which was the first CD ever recorded in Portugal. [15] He worked closely with other fado singers such as Mariza and Camané, and nurtured their development. [16] His career included performances at the Royal Albert Hall, The Town Hall in New York City, [13] Paris Olympia, Frankfurt's Alte Oper, and the Canecão in Rio de Janeiro. His classics include "Bairro alto", ""Lisboa, menina e moça", [17] "Canoas do tejo", "Os putos" [17] and "Por morrer uma andorinha". [18] In 2019, do Carmo announced his retirement from live performances. [19]
In 1964 he married Maria Judite de Sousa Leal. [20] He had three children. [2]
Carlos do Carmo died on 1 January 2021 at Lisbon's Hospital de Santa Maria, aged 81. He had been admitted to the hospital the previous day after having an aneurysm. [1] A national day of mourning was declared on 4 January. [21]
Carlos do Carmo is considered to be the most important male fadista of his generation, that came after Alfredo Marceneiro and before Camané. He is often regarded as the artist that made the transition between traditional fado and the new fado that started emerging in the 1990s. [6]
Sources: [22]
Carlos do Carmo was awarded a Portuguese Golden Globe in 1998 and a Goya Award in 2008. [19] In 2014, he became the first Portuguese artist to win a Latin Grammy Award, being awarded a lifetime achievement award from the Latin Recording Academy. [10] [48] In 1997, he was named a commander of the Order of Prince Henry; in 2016, he became a member of the Order of Merit. [5] [19] In 2019, he received the Medalha de Mérito Cultural . [49]
Fado is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best. But even that information was frequently modified within the generational transmission process that made it reach us today."
Carlos ParedesComSE was a virtuoso Portuguese guitar player and composer. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of Portuguese guitar of all-time.
Jorge Manuel de Abreu PalmaComIH is a Portuguese singer and songwriter.
Camané is a male vocalist and a forerunner of the new generation of fado male singers. "The greatest fadista since Amália Rodrigues and Maria da Fé," is how British biographer David Bret, describes him.
António Chainho is a Portuguese fado guitarist. He has worked with many of the great names in fado music, like Hermínia Silva, Carlos do Carmo and José Afonso, and world music, like Paco de Lucía. He has also recorded and toured extensively with the Lisbon-based São Toméan singer Marta Dias.
Ana Cláudia Moura Pereira, known as Ana Moura, is a Portuguese fado singer. An internationally recognized singer, she was the youngest fadista to be nominated for a Dutch Edison Award.
Elizeth Moreira Cardoso, was a singer and actress of great renown in Brazil.
Katia Guerreiro is a South African-born Portuguese fado singer, who has released eight albums and has received several awards, including Order of Arts and Letters, Chevalier rank, from the French government and the Order of Prince Henry from the President of Portugal.
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Fados is a 2007 Portuguese film directed by Carlos Saura. The film, a fusion of cinema, song, dance and instrumental numbers, explores Portugal's most emblematic musical genre, fado, and its spirit of saudade (melancholy).
Portugal was represented by Carlos do Carmo, with the song "Uma flor de verde pinho", at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in The Hague. "Uma flor de verde pinho" was chosen as the Portuguese entry at the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa on 7 March.
José Mário Branco was a Portuguese singer-songwriter, actor, and record producer.
Maria Isabel Rebelo Couto da Cruz Roseta, known professionally as Cuca Roseta, is a Portuguese fado singer, composer, and model. Roseta is considered one of the most important fado representatives of her generation, appearing early in her career in the movie Fados by Spanish director Carlos Saura. Fado, a musical genre that originated in Lisbon in the early 19th century, is traditionally characterized by feelings of resignation and melancholia, but Roseta's style also incorporates more upbeat influences from world music. She has released seven studio albums with producers including Gustavo Santaolalla and Nelson Motta, has toured extensively, and collaborated with different artists including David Bisbal, Karl Jenkins, and Stewart Sukuma. Roseta has appeared in the Portuguese versions of the television shows Got Talent and Rising Star as a judge, and as a competitor in Dancing with the Stars. She has worked toward causes such as road safety and environmental sustainability, and in 2021 gave a series of hospital concerts to the health professionals fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Events in the year 2021 in Portugal.
Guarda-me A Vida Na Mão is the first album released by fado singer Ana Moura. It was released in 2003 by Mercury Records. The album featured production and arrangements by Jorge Fernando and co-production by Fernando Nunes. Moura was accompanied by Mário Pacheco on the Portuguese guitar, Jorge Fernando on the viola and Filipe Larsen on the bass viola. The album peaked at No. 28 on the Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa chart.
Um Homem na Cidade is an album by fado singer Carlos do Carmo. It was released in 1977 on the Trova label. Carmo was accompanied on the album by guitarists António Chainho and Raul Nery. The author of all the poems is J.C. Ary dos Santos. It was a concept album featuring an array of poems about Lisbon by Ary dos Santos. The album became one of the greatest successes of do Carmo's long career, and was described by Nery as being "one of the most significant albums in the whole fado discography". Um Homem na Cidade evinced a new, innovative style of fado.
Uma Canção para a Europa is an album by fado singer Carlos do Carmo. It was released in 1976 on the Movieplay label. The album included the single "Uma flor de verde pinho" which was entered in Eurovision Song Contest 1976.
Por Morrer uma Andorinha, translated as For a Swallow Dies, is an album by fado singer Carlos do Carmo. It was released in 1970 on the Philips label. The title track became one of do Carmo's most popular hits.
Lucília Nunes de Ascensão do Carmo was a famous Portuguese fadista and the mother of Carlos do Carmo.