Nathan Oliveira At the Triton
A big personal influence on me is Nathan Oliveira; somewhere in my late teens I grew interested in Portuguese artists, but mostly found authors (e.g. Fernando Pessoa and Eça de Queiroz) and musicians (Radio Macau, Carlos Paredes) but outside of Paula Rego, there just wasn't a lot I could find about visual artists in the pre-internet libraries in my neighborhood.
https://zeruch.wordpress.com/2025/02/26/nathan-oliveira-at-the-triton/
@zeruch don't know whether Spotify is your thing, but I have a living playlist that includes the (for me) most iconic musician and tracks:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4eDsYMdbcVnTGusuVKx40M?si=k1dEHnH4RaOMmJfvwfXdjQ&pi=5vienly-QsuoA
Perhaps it's useful!
(Carlos Paredes was a Master.)
@john_fisherman to be completely honest, I rarely use Spotify. That said, I do have an account and I did look up that list and at least 30 to 40% of what's on it is completely new to me. So I still consider that a win. Papa La essa. :)
@zeruch let's hope it's also to your liking, eh eh. Do let me know!
@john_fisherman ... And yes Carlos Paredes, was and is quite untouchable. I mean there's lots of great current players, but there is something about the way he approached the instrument that's not unlike Jaco Pastorius for fretless bass or Miles Davis with the Harmon mute on a trumpet in the Jazz world. He produced such a specific and vast vocabulary on the guitarra portuguesa , that it's almost impossible to not evoke him when playing it yourself.
@zeruch this is an accurate description. How did you get to discover him?
@john_fisherman o meu pai e da ilha de São Miguel, e a minha mãe é da ilha de Santa Maria.
(o meu português já é uma merda absoluta...but I get by). :)
I grew up with Paredes, Amália, o Duo Negro, Waldemar Bastos, MBP, etc.
@zeruch muito bom! I bet you have a little flavor in your accent. I've been to both islands and loved it.
@john_fisherman my sotaque is basically a mish-mash of michalense, mariense, and something sort of Lisbonic because of my extended family in places like Estoril.
But since my teens I don't really get a chance to use it daily, so while I can still read (slowly) a Saramago or Lobo-Antunes novel, my own speaking is like a schizophrenic pastiche of bursts of advanced vocabulary being conjugated by an absolute American imbecile.
I'm sure I'll get better as I've started practicing again...