Custódio Castelo

ARTIST: Custódio Castelo

COUNTRY: Portugal

GENRE: Traditional Portuguese Guitar, Instrumental, Fado, World Music

ABOUT: Born in Almeirim on the 23rd December 1966, Custódio Castelo built (and played with) his first musical instrument at the age of seven. When he was thirteen someone offered him a “real” instrument, an acoustic guitar, which enabled him to join both bands that played Portuguese popular music and rock bands. When he was 13, he discovered the sound of the Portuguese guitar through Amália Rodrigues and soon it became his chosen instrument. Since early times Castelo was considered a wonder due both to the audacious form he played the Portuguese guitar and to the talent he showed, which was acknowledged by famous names of traditional fado, such as D. Vicente da Câmara, Manuel de Almeida, and Fernando Farinha.

At the age of 18 he starts composing and two years later Jorge Fernando invites him to record an album, thus beginning a musical partnership that keeps going on until today. Custódio Castelo accompanied Jorge Fernando in every fado album they recorded and produced for artists such as Argentina Santos, Mariza, Ana Moura, Maria da Fé, Gonçalo Salgueiro, Fernando Maurício, and Raquel Tavares, among others.

Custódio Castelo is, by nature, a man who never gets tired when learning from those who believe doubt is always more creative than the final certainty. The way he plays the guitar shows a trend to preciousness and to a melody-way inspired in the sound of the violin.

Due to his expertise and to the beauty of the sounds he gets from the guitar, Custódio Castelo breaks barriers among eventually different musical languages. He recorded the album “Only early in the night” with the Symphonic Orchestra of Lithuania and shared the stage with several musicians and singers of other areas: Richard Galliano (accordion), Arrigo Cappelletti (pianist), André Dequech (piano), Daniele di Bonaventura (Bandoneón), Davide Zacaria (Cello), Ben Wolf (Bass), Leonard Amuedo (classical guitar), Olga Pratz (piano), Cármen Linares, Ana Salazar…

As a soloist, Castelo carried his virtuosity and brilliant compositions to the world’s most famous music festivals as, for example, the International Festival of Belo Horizonte (Brasil), World Music Festival of Philadelphia (USA), International Festival of Rabat (Morocco), North Sea Jazz Festival (Dan Hag, Haia), Festival du Sud (France).

The constant and tireless quest for the re-invention of the Portuguese guitar is well mirrored on his association with Fado singer Cristina Branco where both the musician and the composer reach international recognition due to a new and bold form of conceiving music. Nowadays he is recognized by the irreverent way he tackles the themes, by the new environments he has created to the so called traditional fados and by the merging of the Portuguese guitar with other sounds. Besides several world tours, he recorded seven CDs with Cristina Branco, including “Murmúrios” (1998) which got the prize “Choc de l’année du Monde de la Musique” in France.

Though Castelo’s versatility never allowed him to be solely a fado accompanist, least because he never followed strictly the fado’s canons, it is important to highlight his participation in Mísia’s “Garras dos Sentidos” (thus becoming her main accompanist for two years), Camané’s “Na Linha da Vida” (after which there was a tour with Camané and Carlos do Carmo), the last concerts of Amália Rodrigues in the USA and the accompaniment of Mafalda Arnaulth in “The Royal Hope Charity Gala”, with Sarah Brightmann, the Royal Ballet, Plácido Domingo and Joaquim Cortes.

In 2004 a health problem emerges (rupture of ligaments in his right shoulder) followed by an unexpected surgery. Everyone feared an early ending of a brilliant career. At such extremely difficult stage for someone who lives for the music Castelo gather together a few friends and musicians who always had accompanied him and entered the studio aiming at registering his lifetime working. With an extreme difficulty to perform and living a tense environment he acted as if he was saying goodbye to his guitar. His first solo CD, “Tempus”, was then born.

However, both the music and the guitar are a passion that Custódio Castelo lives with intensity and after a difficult and remarkable recuperation, he manages to come back to work. At the beginning of 2005 he records pieces of Ana Moura, Jorge Fernando, Gonçalo Salgueiro, Raquel Tavares and João Chora. Together with Ana Moura and Jorge Fernando he is invited by Tim Ries to record two themes (“Brown Sugar” and “No Expectation”) in the second volume of “The Rolling Stones Project”.

Between the stage and the studio (he is currently finishing his second solo CD, “Ventus”) Custódio Castelo teaches since 2008 the first degree course of Portuguese Guitar at ESART, in Castelo Branco, with the purpose to give his instrument the recognition it deserves and to which Custódio Castelo has devoted all his life.

SELECTED PRESS REVIEWS AND QUOTES:

“Custódio Castelo is one of today’s finest players of the 12-stringed Portuguese guitar.” (Songlines)

“A wonderful album.” (Songlines)

“Virtuosity and invention, remarkable poignancy and sensitivity, breathtaking.” (Songlines)

“Custódio Castelo is indeed one of the most significant references for the renovation of the Portuguese guitar in the last two decades…” (Rui Vieira Nery)

“Fortunately there are several composers, some of them coming from rather unusual areas, who have contributed to the vitality of fado. Custódio Castelo is, undoubtedly, one of our greatest talents, capable of the most sophisticated pieces.” (Manuel Halpern)

“The Castelo’s compositions in Portuguese guitar are the most creative ever composed, and they approach the classical music.” (Manuel Halpern)

“He stands between the classic and the modern, between tradition and innovation.” (A Trompa)

“One of the great masters of the guitarra” (Scotsman)

“This generation’s most talented exponent of the guitarra portuguesa.” (World Music Central)

“Custódio Castelo is the world’s leading player of the Portuguese guitar, the instrument that helps give the country’s fado music its poignant sing. But he’s more than a great musician, he’s also a remarkable composer, as this album of original work shows. He’s accompanied many of the great modern fadistas, but this is primarily an instrumental disc where his talents have real chance to shine. His writing evokes places and moods (“Amsterdam” and “Ritos,” for instance). Although he’s a very evocative player, Castelo rarely flashes his virtuosity. He does make an exception on “Homenagem a Paredes,” where his opening flourish of notes is jaw-droppingly magnificent. His instrument is capable of fine nuances of emotion, and he uses them well, especially for melancholy, but also for a sense of jubilation. It’s a remarkable record, eloquent, sophisticated, and yet ineffably rooted in Portugal, a work from a true master.” (Allmusic)

“The world’s leading player of the Portuguese guitar; a lute with 6 double strings. The sound is amazing & the music is beautiful.” (WRUV Reviews)

“Portuguese fado music is a genre like jazz or bluegrass or the blues, which has a very formal, historic style that lends itself to codification and often to a stiff, static feel. It’s beautiful, soulful, striking, but can seem like it’s come to a creative impasse. Lisbon-based guitarist Custodio Castelo is the welcome exception: this album is multi-facted and richly innovative, taking the distinctive sound of fado guitar and giving it new context and new life. His arrangements are inventive and unique, yet still have the emotional resonance of traditional fado. A worthy heir to the late Carlos Paredes, Castelo is one of the most popular guitarists on the contemporary Portuguese scene, having performed with Cristina Branco, Carlos de Carmo, Misia, and even the legendary Amalia Rodrigues. You can see why: he is a marvelous and creative stylist, and this album is deeply rewarding and fresh…” (Slipcue)

“This is world music of great breadth played with often breathtaking speed and fluidity. There is also considerable emotional depth here as much as introspective pieces and uplifting dance.” (Graham Reid)

“Castelo is one of the most sought-after musicians and composers in the genre, and has played with countless singers, including Amalia Rodrigues, Mariza and Placido Domingo. On this record, he takes us on a journey through the genre, playing multiple instruments and going through many variations of the style. One example is “Amsterdam,” a gorgeous duet between his guitar and Ricardo Dias’ flawless accordion (an instrument rarely used in fado). He also blends Portugal with Argentina with “Dança em Tango,” a syncopated medieval-like dance. Other standouts include the heartfelt “Homenagem a Paredes,” a sad tune written in honor of guitar master Carlos Paredes (1925-2004), who fell ill and was unable to play his instrument for the last decade of his life, and “Prece,” a tune based on the poetry of Pedro Homem de Mello — the sole track with vocals, sung here by veteran vocalist Cristina Maria.” (Ernest Barteldes, Newcity Music)

“Well fado fans, this is the ax behind many of the voices you know and love, and if that’s not enough, this cat is enough of a hitter that he’s crossed over to singers like Sarah Brigthman and Placido Domingo as well. Easily in the class of international guitar greats as diverse as Paco deLucia or Angel Romero, Castelo’s life and work seem seamless merged into one as he’s at one with his ax. Any acoustic guitar fan will consider this one of the top finds of the year.” (Chris Spector, Midwest Record)

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY:

- “Ventus” (2012)
- “Tempus” (2004)

SELECTED VIDEOS: