Alcindo de Carvalho

He was born at Rua da Rosa in the Lisbon district of Bairro Alto, on the 9 January 1932. Fado was strongly present in his family. As a child and teenager he participated in “family” concerts, in which his brothers played Spanish guitar and Portuguese guitar. In this atmosphere Alcindo de Carvalho found his call and performed his first fado songs.

His boss’s daughter filed an application for him to have an audition at the radio broadcaster Emissora Nacional, (1953) where he henceforth performed at shows on regular basis.

His talent was found by Márcia Condessa, a friend of his family. When he was 18 he joined the cast of the "Márcia Condessa" fado house and became one of fado’s most renowned voices. One day, after a show at Emissora Nacional, Lucília do Carmo invited him to join the cast of "O Faia", where he worked for more than one decade. He still treasures his time at this fado house.

He was a sales representative of Sotinco paints for 25 years, together with his night shows at various fado houses. Although he did not sleep much, he has fond remembrances of those days. At that time he worked with the best fado singers, namely Carlos Ramos, Tristão da Silva and Fernando Farinha, among others.

In his pathway as fado house singer, reference should be made to his 21-year career at "Parreirinha de Alfama" and his fine relationship with Ms. Argentina Santos, which enabled him, at one point, to perform not only at "Parreirinha de Alfama", but also at "Taverna do Embuçado" and "Clube de Fado".

A friend and comrade of Carlos Ramos, Alcindo owns most of his repertoire, which was offered to him. He performs it with great nosthalgy. His repertoire also includes lyrics by Artur Ribeiro.

In 1974 he recorded to programmes for television broadcaster RTP. In spite of fine ratings, they were not continued.

In the 1980’s he had his first recording, for label Telectra.

More recently, in the 1990’s, he participated in the Fado Show Centro Cultural de Belém, together with José Pedro Gomes and Carlos Zel. This show traveled to Marseilles, where it was presented. He also participated in a festival in London, in the framework of Portugal’s Week.

At the 2004 Grande Noite do Fado show, he received a Life Achievement Award.

In 2005 he featured the première of a Ricardo Pais show called "Cabelo Branco é Saudade" at Teatro Nacional de São João, in Porto. The cast also included Argentina Santos, Celeste Rodrigues and Ricardo Ribeiro. The show toured Italy, France and Japan.

Was one of the voices of the "Clube de Fado" cast, in Alfama.

Of his vast repertoire we should stress the themes “Não venhas tarde” by Aníbal da Nazaré, "Fado de Ser Fadista" by Artur Ribeiro and "Bons Tempos" by José Galhardo.

Alcindo died on December 6th 2010.

Source:

Baptista-Bastos (1999), "Fado Falado", Col. "Um Século de Fado", Lisboa, Ediclube.