Half Note Jazz Club hosts promising young fado singer Joana Amendoeira
Continuing its coverage of music beyond the conventional realms of jazz, the Half Note Jazz Club is currently hosting performances by a promising singer of Portuguese fados, 22-year-old Joana Amendoeira, one of the youngest on the circuit. Amendoeira, a regular performer in Lisbon fado houses, home to the melancholic Portuguese form with roots dating back to the early 20th century, has already established herself as one of the finer new exponents of the form. She is a resident performer at a fado house in Portugal. Besides being an active stage performer, Amendoeira has, despite her youth, released three albums to date; the most recent being last year’s «Fado Antologia.» It was preceded by 1998’s debut album, «Olhos Garotos» and «Aquela Rua,» two years later. Signs of Amendoeira’s future direction emerged early, when, at the age of 12, the aspiring singer performed at one of the country’s most popular contests for amateur singers, the Grande Noite do Fado Amador in Lisbon. She returned to the same event several years later, this time in Oporto, in 1995, and took first prize. Amendoeira, who will be at the Half Note Jazz Club (17 Trivonianou, Mets, tel 210.921.3310) until Thursday, has also toured for performances in other European cities, and has taken her work to Latin America and Japan too.
