Calling from her Bay Area home prior to setting out on a West Coast tour, fadista Ramana Vieira “hopes and prays” the Portuguese community comes out to hear her sing when she makes a return visit to Tango del Rey from 7 to 9 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 20. Be assured Vieira is a gorgeous woman with a ravishingly beautiful and sultry voice. Moreover, each song, or fado, in her considerable repertoire tells a story. One of Vieira’s hopes when she last spoke to this writer in 2009 was to establish a more international presence — and that she has done. Following an East Coast tour with her band last summer, during which they performed at a huge Portuguese festival in New Bedford, Mass., she was invited to sing during the winter holidays in Macau, an island an hour by boat from Hong Kong, China. Macau was a Portuguese trading post and territory for more than 400 years before it was turned over to China in 1999. Vieira relates the scenic and cultural riches of Macau, and in the next breath describes it as “Las Vegas times 10” because of its thriving gaming and tourist industry. Her audience, which numbered around 2,000 each evening, was a mix of Cantonese and Portuguese. “If you didn’t speak those languages, you were out of luck,” says the singer, who got by on her Portuguese. “I was one of a number of entertainers,” she says, adding with a laugh.”My biggest competition was the Elvis impersonator. Joined in San Diego by cellist Laura Boytz, glassical guitarist Jeffrey Luiz, percussionist Stephen La Porto and electric bassist Alberto Ramirez, Vieira will sing traditional and original songs, some from her Pacific Coast Jazz CD, including the haunting “Lagrimas De Rainha (Tears of a Queen).” She also promises new songs set on the poetry of Portuguese/Canadian writer Eu-clides Cavaco. She will also perform songs in Macanese Patuá. The language, a mixture of Malay, Sinhalese, Cantonese and Portuguese, is also called Macau Creole. Vieira was born in San Leandro to Portuguese parents. As a child, she learned to sing from her mother’s record collection, studied piano and was a student at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre for 10 years before returning to her roots in music. Fado, which translates as “fate” or “destiny,” seems to be her destiny, no matter where in the world she goes. Ramana Vieira (http://ramana vieira.net/imusic.html) and her ensemble play from 7 to 9 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 20 at Tango del Rey, 3567 Del Rey St. Tickets are $17 in advance, $20 at the door, (858) 794-9044.
