GISELA JOÃO

Line up

• GIsela João  (Vocals)

• country:
  Portugal
• region:
  Lisboa
• style(s):
  • Fado
• label:
  HM Música / MUSICA PT
• gender:
  female
• instrumentation:
  vocal
• artist submitted by:
  HM Música MWF

Fado Facing the North ("Is the girl from the North around?")


It is sometimes said that Fado is only from Lisbon and that those who feel and sing it best are the people of the capital. However, Amália was brought up in Fundão; Beatriz da Conceição, Maria da Fé, Tony de Matos and José Fontes Rocha, for example, were born in Porto; Lucília do Carmo is from Portalegre; and, in this case, Gisela João, who was born in Barcelos, won over Porto, also known as the "invincible city", and just like some of her key references, she moved to "Mouraria" (a typical Lisbon neighbourhood associated with Fado) to conquer the world... Today, she is considered by many connoisseurs to be one of the most exciting voices to emerge onto the Fado music scene in recent years.

Born and bred in the Minho, a northerner body and soul, she brings song as a condition of life, a way to bring the weight of words to the surface, holding us captive from the beginning to the end, both in traditional fado and in the happier songs about the people that she supports and respects. And you can't imagine that this young looking woman, slender and small, has that gigantic voice, with a well timbered hoarseness and a unique spirit that transports us to a genuine and authentic notion of the Portuguese nationality.
From early on, listening to the radio, Fado and Gisela fell in love with each other in such a way that she has never stopped singing. Firstly, for her family and neighbours, then for her schoolmates and in competitions for young singers.
When she was nineteen, she moved to Porto to study fashion design and, as expected, sought a place in the bustling, although sometimes unknown and 'underground' circuit of Porto's Fado houses - more uncultured, authentic and even more genuine than some of their 'alfacinha' (Lisbon) counterparts.
Two years ago, she let herself be led by destiny and headed south to risk a career devoted exclusively to music and in this case to Fado. She was invited to join the cast of the most prestigious fado house in Lisbon: Sr. Vinho, owned by Maria da Fé and José Luís Gordo. She began to frequent some of the cult venues of the city and has easily won a public that now, eagerly asks: "Is the girl from the North around?..."

Links

• Management and Booking