Fado at BAM cafe

The huge windows at BAMcafe.

I'd never listened to or even heard of fado before Friday night, when we watched a performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). (Fado is a genre of Portuguese folk music.) The gf had known what it was since it's a favorite of her mom's. I, on the other hand, had no idea what to expect and was completely blown away.

There was a guy on bass, one on guitar, and a third one on Portuguese guitar. Then there was the performer, Nathalie Pires, who sang and moved with such passion and emotion and, at times, with a bit of playfulness. It was mesmerizing.

The venue was the BAM cafe, and Pires sang not on stage at one end of the great hall, as she explained during the show, but under a huge window in the center of the room for a more intimate experience with the audience. All the tables were taken, and people stood in rapt attention. For the last piece, they had the mics turned off, and she walked into the audience, stood among the tables, and sang without amplification. We sat mesmerized as we listened to the emotions, the richness and strength of her voice as it filled the huge hall. It was an experience I won't soon forget and hope to witness again.

Nathalie Pires's myspace page