Judging from the photos in her CD and the sound of her voice, beauteous Ramana Vieira is a lovely person. It seems utterly natural for her to be seated in a Bay Area park surrounded by children (including her 5-year-old son) at play while she answers questions via long distance. A native of San Leandro born to Portuguese parents, Vieira is a fadista, or one who sings and, in her case, composes fado, a Portuguese vocal style she learned at her mother’s knee. The word translates into English as “fate” or “destiny.” Currently, it is Vieira’s destiny to be at Pacific Beach’s Tango del Rey Sunday, Aug. 23 to perform her show “A Cultura de Portugal,” treating listeners to the art form, her band of musicians and her songs. Asked where and when fado arose, Vieira said, “It originated somewhere between the 15th and 18th centuries, back in the court days, the aristocracy times, when it was sung to kings and queens. It’s a blend of music from Arabia, Spain, Brazil and Africa, a conglomeration of these cultures that had major influences in Portugal and in the Iberian Peninsula — you know, similar to how blues music originated here in the United States.” Informed by centuries-old tradition and Vieira’s innate theatricality (she studied at American Conservatory Theatre for 10 years), many of her songs are little dramas. Many are sad, like “Lagrimas de Rainha” (“Tears of a Queen”), the title track on her Pacific Coast Jazz CD. She hastened to say that, just as in a good blues show, “A Cultura de Portugal” is composed of up-tempo fados, ballady fados and the more melancholy fados. “Lagrimas de Rainha” concerns the true story of Ines de Castro, a servant in the castle of Dom Pedro and his mother, the reigning queen. Dom Pedro fell in love with Ines, and she bore him several children. “They married in secrecy,” Vieira explained. “Eventually, they were found out, and she was killed. When he became king, he never forgot how his lover had been mercilessly slain, so he exhumed her body and dressed her in the finest jewels and silks, where everyone in the court kissed her hand” and acknowledged her as queen. “There’s a beautiful fountain in the town of Coimbra, where this happened. No one knows the source of the water, so the story goes it is the tears of Ines. Wow! What a great story. My life is so boring. There’s so much art in the world. It is important for me to emulate something so extraordinary, like that love and that history in Portugal.” Vieira’s goal is to take the fado tradition, its beauty and history, to a larger audience. Hence the performance in San Diego, in which she will be accompanied by the extraordinary musicians on her CD, guitarist Jeffrey Luiz, cellist Marcie Brown, electric bassist Alberto Ramirez and percussionist Steve La Porta. Festivities will begin at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23 with traditional dancers and support acts. Vieira and her ensemble will appear at 6 p.m. Admission is $17-$22, with an optional $10 buffet-style Portuguese dinner available. Tango del Rey is located at 3567 Del Rey St. in Pacific Beach, (858) 581-1114.
