Cristina Branco Corpo Illuminado CD

Cristina Branco might just be the best fado singer since the great Amalia Rodrigues, the woman who defined the genre. There's a subtlety to her voice that catches the emotions -- and fado, like blues or flamenco, is about feel -- and she never becomes histrionic, letting things stay in check, with the understatement much more eloquent. With this disc she refines and expands upon her two previous studio albums, even to the extent of the unaccompanied "Molinera" that closes the record, a song in a 13th century dialect. The musical relationship between Branco and husband Custodio Castelo, who arranges and plays the difficult Portuguese guitar (which gives fado its distinctive, mournful instrumental sound), continues to grow and deepen, while the other instruments -- guitar and double bass, build a framework for songs like the delicate "Musa." As with all fado, the lyrics are the crux of the matter, and Branco has chosen some beautiful poems (all well translated in the booklet), with "Tu Tens de Me Acontecer" a particular standout. But with a set this sublime, it's almost impossible to single out any one song above the others. There's a floating, breathless beauty about the whole thing that makes it timeless -- and over all too soon. ~ Chris Nickson

2001 release by this great interpreter of Portuguese / Fado song and heir apparent to the legendary Amalia Rodrigues and new queen of the genre, Dulce Pontes. On this, her third album, she covers the works of famous Portuguese poets like Pessoa and honors the tradition of the Fado while enriching it with her modern vocal creativity.

Personnel includes: Cristina Branco (vocals); Custodio Castelo (arranger); Alexandre Silva, Jorge Fernando, Jose Fontes Rocha, Custodio Castelo, Carlos Manuel Proenca (guitar); Miguel Carvalhino (classical guitar); Joel Pina, Fernando Maia, Marino De Freitas (bass).

Producers: Custodio Castelo, Fernando Nunes.

Yoga Journal (10/02, pp.152-3) - "...Branco is Judy Collins to Evora's Odetta....[She] digs into the emotional gist of these traditional and newly composed fados....[Her] ability to communicate the complexities of love and loss is hardly bound by language..."