Carlos Manuel de Ascenção do Carmo de Almeida, better known as Carlos do Carmo, was born on December 21, 1939 in Lisbon’s Mouraria neighborhood.
Carlos Do Carmo is known as “The voice of the fado”, Portugal’s folk song. The new generations always take him as a point of reference. Son of the great fado singer Lucilia Do Carmo, he has disseminated Portuguese popular music like no other has done. He has contributed in changing the sad image of the fado and each performance of his is a delight to be witnessed. At times he tells us, and he sings, that songs have ceased to belong to their authors so as to pass themselves on to the people who immortalize them.
The remarkable career of Carlos do Carmo has included dozens of album-length recordings and thousands of performances for audiences worldwide, drawing on a meaningful and highly influential repertory of fados that speak of love, loss and the eternal paradox of Portuguese saudade (longing). His accomplishments have been recognized through multiple national and international awards, including a Latin GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, citing him as “one of the most iconic voices of Portuguese music.”
Carlos do Carmo’s professional career began at age 23 when he performed at his family’s celebrated fado house, O Faia, located in the Lisbon neighborhood of Bairro Alto. In the subsequent 50-plus years, his recorded and live output has been prodigious. Even the 10-CD collection 100 Canções (2010) can only be viewed as a sampling of “the best of the best.”
His milestone 1977 recording, Um Homem na Cidade, is a deeply moving musical portrait of post-revolutionary Lisbon, with all of its glorious beauty, contradictions and mystery unbroken. The 1974 revolution had overthrown the regime linked to Europe’s longest-ruling dictator, António Salazar, and triggered Portugal’s first steps towards modernization. As Carlos do Carmo remembers, “When the revolution came, the difference was total: you could breathe. There were no restrictions.” Widespread censorship and control in society had yielded to a more vigorous tension between the country’s ingrained conservatism and its emerging liberties of expression. Um Homem na Cidade captured this moment through haunting, ethereal works such as “Rosa da Noite,” “Fado do Campo Grande”, and the record’s title track.
Carlos do Carmo’s many live recordings, most notably those commemorating the 25th and 35th years of his career, render not merely the high points, such as the songs “Canoas do Tejo,” “Loucura,” and “Lisboa Menina e Moça,”but also the template for the sound of contemporary fado. As Carlos do Carmo describes it, fado is “a mysterious and genuine song. To sing and to listen to fado you have to have heart and soul.”
Discography:
Não Se Morre de Saudade (1967)
Carlos Do Carmo (1970)
Fado Em Tom Maior (Valentim de Carvalho, 1971)
Canoas Do Tejo (1972)
Uma Canção Para A Europa (1976)
Que Se Fez Homem De Cantar (1990)
Ao Vivo No Olympia (1993)
Ao Vivo Na Ópera De Frankfurt (Alte Oper Frankfurt) (1994)
Dez Fados Vividos (1995)
Ao Vivo no C.C.B (1999)
Nove fados e uma canção de amor (2002)
Do Tempo Do Vinil (2003)
Fado Lisboa – An Evening At The “Faia” (2003)
Ao Vivo – Coliseu dos Recreios – Lisboa (Universal Portugal, 2004)
A Arte E A Música De Carlos Do Carmo (2006)
Mais Do Que Amor É Amar (2006)
Por Morrer Uma Andorinha (2006)
Um Homem Na Cidade (2006)
Um Homem No Pais (2006)
À Noite (2007)
Carlos do Carmo & Bernardo Sassetti (2010)
Margens (2012)
Maria João Pires / Carlos Do Carmo (Universal Portugal, 2012)
Fado É Amor (2013)
Os Sucessos de 35 Anos de Carreira: Ao Vivo no CCB (EMI Portugal, 2015)
Um Homem No Mundo (Universal Portugal, 2015)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
