Jorge Fernandes

Jorge Manuel Monteiro Fernandes was born in Ervedosa do Douro on October 9, 1935. His natural tendency for music was evident when his older brother bought a guitar and eventually offered it to Jorge Fernandes, who had began to play it. Later he would trade the classic guitar for the Portuguese guitar, being considered one of the best Portuguese guitar players.

In the 1950s and 60s the sound of his guitar accompanied great fado singers, like Alfredo Marceneiro, Fernando Farinha, Carlos Ramos, Maria do Espírito Santo, Fernanda Maria, Maria da Conceição Pereira or Natércia, among others. Back then, with Francisco Perez Andion on the classic guitar, he was part of the cast of the fado house A Toca, whose owner was the singer Carlos Ramos.

Some years after his marriage to an American lady, in 1963, Jorge Fernandes eventually moved to the United States. He had a daugher from this marriage. Jorge Fernandes continued his career as a guitar player and, with Faustino Neto playing the classic guitar, held numerous tours and shows, especially with the fado singer Maria Marques, with whom they played in Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, Spain and at the Town Hall Theatre in New York. Jorge Fernandes also accompanied Valentina Felix on a tour of performances for the Portuguese communities in the United States.

His death on May 15, 1970, in New York, was an early end to the remarkable career of guitar player that he had developed.