What fado is

Fado is song. It is sung over verses that speak of longing, loss, love, the sea, Lisbon — poems in their own metre, written to be sung this way and no other. It was born next door: Alfama is one of the neighbourhoods where fado took shape, in the nineteenth century, among taverns and narrow streets.

In 2011, UNESCO listed it as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. But inside a fado house, between the courses of the evening, you don’t hear it as a category — you hear it as it is: voice, Portuguese guitar, viola de fado, silence all around.

How it is sung at the Clube

This house was founded by a guitarist, and you can hear it: the standard set on that stage is that of someone who spent a lifetime accompanying the greatest voices in the genre. The sets are sung right by the tables, between the stone arches, the Portuguese guitar carrying the melody and the whole room listening.

Each fado is heard only once: the same song, on the same night, never sounds the same twice. That is why the room stops when someone stands up to sing. The dishes wait; so do the conversations.

What an evening is like

The kitchen opens at 19:30. Fado starts at 20:30 and carries on until 01:00, in sets alternating with the courses of the menu. When the singers sing, the room falls silent; when they pause, the dishes arrive and conversation returns. And so on, until the night ends.

The Portuguese guitar weaves the ornamented melody that sets fado apart from any other music; the viola de fado lays down the chords; the double bass, the foundation. Somewhere in the night there is a guitarrada — the musicians alone, the instrument speaking without verses.

Fado singer performing, a wine glass blurred in the foreground

The musicians don’t step up anywhere.
They play beside your table.

Every night, from 20:30

The house ensemble

Voices, Portuguese guitars, violas de fado and double bass — the artists who make the Clube’s evenings. Several also sing and play at the group’s sister houses.

Sofia Ramos — Voice — **Sofia Ramos**Voice

Peu Madureira — Voice — **Peu Madureira**Voice

Sara Paixão — Voice — **Sara Paixão**Voice

Cristina Madeira — Voice — **Cristina Madeira**Voice

Carlos Leitão — Voice and viola de fado — **Carlos Leitão**Voice and viola de fado

José Manuel Neto — Portuguese guitar — **José Manuel Neto**Portuguese guitar

Rui Poço — Portuguese guitar — **Rui Poço**Portuguese guitar

David Ribeiro — Portuguese guitar — **David Ribeiro**Portuguese guitar

Flávio César Cardoso — Viola de fado — **Flávio César Cardoso**Viola de fado

Pedro Saltão — Viola de fado — **Pedro Saltão**Viola de fado

Paulo Paz — Double bass — **Paulo Paz**Double bass

Double bass player standing beneath the arch, the room full

Fado singer in white with a red sash, the double bass behind

Fado singer and guitarists walk the Alfama street at night

Young guitarist portrayed at night in an Alfama street

The audience applauds at the table as the set ends

Portrait of the fado singer beside the framed pictures

The long dining table, the ensemble playing at the back

Guitarist seated at the table under the stone arch

Applause at the table, double bass in the background

Fado

What fado is

How it is sung at the Clube

What an evening is like

The house ensemble

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