If you've never heard of Fado, it is a Portuguese folk tradition born out of the Moorish influence in Lisbon, Portugal and Brazilian love songs called modhinas. Since fado songs are usually about heartbreak and loss, (some call it the Portuguese blues), the tradition was actually subverted by the country's dictators in the 1930s and turned into a political tool, encouraging the unhappy lower classes to focus on nostalgia and romantic love as a distraction, so the genre carried a negative association for some time, until it became popular again in the 1980's. Largely due to the late great Amália Rodriguez (1920-1999), and the success of other modern fadistas, fado has become the most popular Portuguese music outside the country.

LAist recommends checking out the new heir apparent to Amália Rodriguez, the traffic-stoppingly pretty Ana Moura, at the Temple Bar next Tuesday, April 8th. Moura sings with Rodriguez's former guitarist and producer, and has a new album out called Para Alem da Saudade.

Here are some tracks!

Photo from Ana Moura's Virb