Guitarras de Coimbra

Featuring José Afonso . Balada de Outono . Fado . Coimbra . Serenata Monumental Queima . Guitarra de Coimbra . Fado De Coimbra . Saudades De Coimbra . Carlos Paredes . Guitarra . Samaritana

fado.com : José Afonso would be known by an intimate and universal name: Zeca Afonso. A name that refers to more than the artist, but convene a powerful figure in the collective imagination, a figure that conjures up images of myth.

Wikipedia : Coimbra Fado is performed with the traditional Guitarra de Coimbra (a kind of Portuguese guitar born in Coimbra), a modified version of Lisbon’s fado guitar allegedly created by Artur Paredes, and usually accompanied by classic acoustic guitar and male voices.

rateyourmusic.com : Some days after the Revolution Adriano Correia de Oliveira had just signed the C.A.C. manifesto, entering to what would be Grupo de Acção Cultural. But quickly has he entered, he left. In the same year he produced and sang, along with José Afonso, in Fausto’s P’ró que Der e Vier. A gesture Fausto would have in consideration.

Portal do Fado : Fernando Machado Soares nasceu em S. Roque do Pico (Distrito da Horta – Açores), em 3 de Setembro de 1930 e licenciou-se nos finais da década de 50, na Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Coimbra.

Lisbon Guide : In Coimbra we find the same sad style, but with different motivations. As it was already said, the ex-libris of Coimbra are its students. Little by little, young people that arrived from Lisbon and Porto took their guitars and the new playing style was appreciated by the students.

Nonesuch Records : Guitarist Carlos Paredes comes from a long line of masters of the Portuguese guitar, a 12-string cousin of the modern instrument. The New York Times praised this album’s “emotional weight,” saying that in Paredes’ hands, the guitar “becomes a concert instrument; his piercing top notes, dazzling runs and buzzing chords set speed records even as he breaks your heart.”

The Independent : Fado isn’t only about tears of nostalgia and loss. In the northern university town of Coimbra, fado is cheerful stuff, with texts written by professors, and that is what we get here.

Paul Vernon : Coimbra Fado is nevertheless full of longing, and it is that spirit which lies at the very heart of the Fado, be it from Lisbon or Coimbra. There is a Portuguese word, ‘saudade’ that has no direct equivalent translation. The closest English definition is ‘yearning’.