Traditional Portuguese Folk Music

Saturday September 13, 2014

Matt and I wanted to try and give ourselves a bit of a night out tonight on the town. Any other time this would probably mean finding a nice restaurant to eat at after strolling the boulevard, but tonight it meant dodging rain clouds until the sky cleared up enough for us to walk the mile up to one of the major supermarkets with a cafe attached to get ourselves a cheap burger and fry combo. These forced marina stays are really killing our monthly budget. Getting back to the boat just before dark we settled in with a movie and our computers, proud that we had gotten out to do something.

Just before ten o’clock we heard a knock on the hull, and already changed into a lounging shirt and fuzzy pants for the night, I ran up to see who might be calling at this late’ish hour. Barbara from La Luna was standing there, eager to tell me about a music performance that was about to start in an area just next to the marina. She told us that it was going to be traditional Portuguese guitar playing by two brothers she happened to come across earlier in the day, and that we should come check it out.

Not only did it sound like it was going to be beautiful, I mean, everyone knows how great traditional Spanish guitar songs are and Portuguese had to be pretty close, but I figured it would be just the push I needed to pull out my guitar a few more times for practice. Letting her know that we’d be out in about 10 minutes, we both raced to throw on clothes and fill our Tervis tumblers full of wine. We’re all about class here and I don’t think bringing a cooler full of beer was going to cut it.

Walking the waterfront until we came to the stage that had been set up, it looked as if this was a popular event that we had arrived late to. The music had already started and we were forced to stand in the rear as all of the fifty plastic chairs that had been set out were already full of the tourists that come between the island in mini cruise ships. As the first song ended, one of the brothers went into a speech about the traditional music they were playing and the traditional guitar he was playing it on. During this break I tried to search out Barbara in the crowd to let her know we’d arrive and so we could stand together when I saw her moving back from the front row of seats. She motioned for us to follow her and sure enough, there were two seats reserved for us as well, front and center.

Just as we were getting settled in the music started again. Over the next hour we listened to multiple traditional songs, each one more beautiful than the last. The two brothers that were on guitar were sometimes joined by a cello player and also by a violin player. If you are a cello player check out the best cello cases to keep your instrument protected.

We were completely blown away by the music, it was not what we were expecting at all. It definitely lit a fire under my butt to start picking up my guitar more often in the hopes that one day I’ll also be able to play something as equally stunning. In the meantime I’ve recorded some of their playing so I can enjoy listening to it until the day I’m able to play it myself.