Event

Ramana Vieira, Tango No. 9

Ramana Vieira sings fado, often referred to as Portuguese blues or torch songs.
An American counterpart to the dazzling parade of Portuguese fadistas who have reinvigorated a tradition that was already moribund years before fado queen Amalia Rodrigues' death in 1999, Ramana Vieira has become a leading force in spreading awareness of fado in the United States, building on the international buzz generated by stars like Misia, Dulce Pontes, Cristina Branco, Ana Moura and Mariza. Unlike most traditional fadistas, she sometimes fuses it with Latin Jazz and world music influences. She sings in both English & Portuguese. Quoting a recent New York Times article "Amália Rodrigues is in my DNA, but so is Kate Bush, and I started out in a new-wave band," Ms. Vieira said before a recent performance in New York. "My purpose is to open up the fado and keep exploring it. My group doesn't have a traditional fado configuration, so we've had to evolve." March 27, the New York Times When Emmy Award-winning composer Chris Hedge was commissioned to design an interactive musical installation for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, he and Vieira created a track of her singing fado that was projected on a huge outdoor screen and remixed live every night throughout the games.
Tango No. 9, is San Francisco's premier chamber ensemble, passionately devoted to all facets of tango music. This concert will feature recent additions to Tango No.9's repertoire in all its phases a trademark mix of traditional dance music, the tango nuevo of Astor Piazzolla, and more recent compositions that extend tango conventions into the 21st century.
The group will also preview material it is preparing for its fifth recording, whose working title is The Vocal Album. Tango No. 9 features Catherine Clune on violin, Grag Stephens on trombone, Joshua Raoul Brody on piano and the fabulous Zoltan diBartolo on vocals.