Por Meu Cante

Por Meu Cante was originally released in 2004 and it’s the second of Antonio Zambujo’s albums. Although his singing only fully bloomed on the subsequent Outro Sentido and Guia, it was already obvious back then that his path was one of profound individuality in fado. All that flirting with bossa nova and cool jazz we now take for granted in Zambujo’s music is pretty much out in the open in Por Meu Cante and we can hear the first evidences of the summoning of João Gilberto’s and Chet Baker’s beautiful and luminous.

What’s most surprising and revealing listening back to his second effort is how Zambujo couldn’t care less for subtlety when he evoked his Alentejo roots. In the closing track, ‘Que Inveja Tens Tu das Rosas’, for instance, he hums along the tune until he’s brought into the presence of an amazing and moving regional polyphonic choir – Grupo de Cantares de Évora. But all the while you can recognise his trademark vocal style, that delicate and fragile manner of delivering each word like he’s whispering them instead of singing out loud.

Still a step away from his most adult albums, this is a gentle and touching recording, giving a few formidable hints of the singer he was about to become. While all the other fadistas were trying so hard to sound like their heroes, Antonio Zambujo was paving his way with a bold and marvellous proposition: his own fado.