The Whole Music Experience

Cristina Branco Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands Arc Music If you’re a fan of Portuguese fado music, then fadista Cristina Branco and lute player-composer Custòdio Castelo are familiar names to your ears.   Arc Music takes us back to 1997 before the fame and before the large musical output of these musicians.   Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands features already mature musicians poised for promising careers.   I’m hearing most of these fados for the first time because I didn’t discover either musician until the release of Sensu in 2003, an album that mixed fado with sensual jazz. Similar to Mariza, Branco takes the Portuguese music tradition into contemporary times. She has covered Joni Mitchell ( Ulisses ) and she brought in jazz piano ( Sensus ).   But the 1997 live album features pure fado with traditional instruments, mainly Portuguese guitar, with crystal shimmering tones accompanying Branco’s emotive vocals.    The album features 16...