Biography

He did, three years later. Meanwhile, he had performed live extensively, both in Portugal and abroad (France, Spain, Italy, Holland), but "Na Linha da Vida", his second album, again with Branco as producer, showed Camané taking risks. The album showcased his growingly personal interpretative style, introducing his own material instead of relying mainly on more traditional Fado stylings, using a jazzy double bass as a rhythmic anchor. The critics knew he was on to something and the album ended up making nearly all of the year-end top-ten "best of" lists. The audiences began to listen intently. Foreign territories -- Belgium and Holland first, Korea later -- recognised the talent and released the album, accompanied by short tours of those countries, along with performances at festivals in France (Rennes' Tombée de la Nuit and Paris' Les Mediterranées à l'Européen).

In 2000, we were all rewarded beyond our expectations by Camané's third album, "Esta Coisa da Alma", released simultaneously in Portugal, Belgium and Holland. Branco was at the helm once more; and yes, Camané was maturing right there in front of our eyes. At first, it looked as if the album was a step back, because he wasn't relying as much on new material as on old standards with new lyrics. But soon you realised that sometimes you do need to step back to move forward -- and "Esta Coisa da Alma" was a giant leap, with Camané proving himself more than a singer, an interpreter with a finely-tuned ear to every emotional nuance of the poem.

"Brilliant" was too restrictive to describe it, as audiences who heard him sing live testified by selling out venues in Holland, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland or France. And yes, he was finally popular -- the album won nearly every critic's and public choice awards in Portugal. By year's end "Esta Coisa da Alma" had gone Silver, the first Fado album to do so in Portugal in many years.