One of the voices of fado, Gisela João is an important interpreter of current Portuguese music, recognized with the Blitz, Time Out, Expresso awards and the Golden Globe for Best National Performer.
Gisela’s presence on national and international stages, as well as her performances, were decisive in establishing herself as an interpreter of Portuguese music, presenting contemporary Fado without deviations or artifice, emphasizing the tradition and authenticity of this style.
Gisela became interested in Fado when she was eight years old. Between the ages of 16 and 17, she sang for “Adega Lusitana”, in Barcelos. In 2000, she moved to Porto to study Design, where she started singing in another Fado house. She lived in Porto for six years before, finally, singing imposed her will and took her to Lisbon.
In 2009, she recorded an album with the group Atlantihda. She is one of the guest names on the album by Fernando Alvim, historic Portuguese guitarist and “accomplice” of Carlos Paredes, entitled “O Fado E As Canções do Alvim” (2011). She participated as a Fado singer in the film “O Grande Kilapy” (2012).
In a small “borrowed” house in Mouraria, she struggled with the immense weight of loneliness, thought several times about giving up, but resisted. She first conquered half of Lisbon and then all of Lisbon, from the Casas de Fado to the mythical Lux nightclub and from the Small Auditorium of the Centro Cultural de Belém to the Teatro São Luiz.
2013 – 2015: The debut album “Gisela João”
The year 2013 was the year of consecration, with the release of her debut album Gisela João, which was released on July 1, 2013. Two weeks later, the album would reach first place in the National Sales Top, being quickly acclaimed by The vast majority of national critics considered it the most important debut album by a Portuguese artist in the 21st century, distinctions that awarded Gisela the Amália Revelation Award, with whom her talent has been compared several times.
Her debut album was also considered best national album of the year by several reference publications such as Blitz, Expresso, Público, Time Out and the website Cotonete, achieving sales that earned her a Platinum Record. Gisela João was also honored with a Golden Globe in the category of “Best Individual Performer” and with the José Afonso award in 2014, with the jury considering that the fado singer is “the best voice that has ever appeared after Amália”.
In 2015, in the month of January, Gisela João sold out two of the most emblematic national venues: Coliseu do Porto and Coliseu de Lisboa. That same year, she received a platinum record for her debut album and numerous concerts and performances on foreign stages, including France, the United States, England, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Slovenia, Germany, among others. He also participated in Amália Rodrigues’ tribute album, Amália: As Vozes do Fado, an album that brings together some of Fado’s most iconic artists, where he performs the themes “Medo” and “Meu Amor, Meu Amor”, in a duet with Camané.
The end of 2015 also brought the series of shows “Caixinha de Música”, a collaboration between Gisela and Teatro Municipal São Luiz, where the Portuguese singer lent her voice to pay homage to some of the most important performers from the first half of the 20th century until to today, such as Serge Gainsbourg, Bryan Ferry, Nick Cave, Ella Fitzgerald, Amy Winehouse, Leonard Cohen and Violeta Parra, among many others.
2016: “Nua” (Naked)
Three years after releasing her debut album “Gisela João”, Fadista returned to records with the release of “Nua”, her second album, which is a mix of classics, traditional and current works. With lyrics and music by several composers, including Cartola, Brazilian samba singer and composer, Carlos Paião, Alexandre O’Neill, Capicua and Alain Oulman.
“Nua” was released on November 11, 2016 and was considered by Blitz to be the 2nd best Portuguese album of 2016 (behind “Capitão Fausto Têm os Dias Contados”, by Capitão Fausto).
2021: “Louca” and “AuRora”
After five years without recording, Gisela releases the music video “Louca”, which will be a single from the new album to be released in April, AuRora.
With lyrics and music by Marco Pombinho and arrangements by Michael League, “Louca” features musicians Bernardo Romão (Portuguese guitar), Nelson Aleixo (guitar), Francisco Gaspar (bass), Justin Stanton (piano and keyboards) and Michael League (mellotron and moog bass).
The music video was recorded in São Paulo, Brazil, and will be the first in a trilogy of videos that, watched in sequence, will become a short film to be released even before the release of ‘AuRora’. The next singles will be, respectively, “Já Não Choro Por Ti” and “Canção ao Coração”.
The album “AuRora” was recorded between Lisbon and Barcelona. It is the fado singer’s first with only original songs, and the first with her compositions.
