My family is a musical family. As long as I can remember, even back to early childhood, there’s always been music in the household. When camping out, we sang around the campfire. My folks played records (that’s right, big old heavy RCA vinyls) on Sundays, and we listened to Verdi, Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss. We went to dances: waltz, two step, polka. We sang folk songs in college, usually outside on the steps of hundred-year-old buildings. We sang in English, French, German, and Spanish. Now we have entered new territory. As we have become increasingly infatuated with the Lusitano horse (Portuguese bullfighting and dressage breed) we are also learning about Portuguese and Brazilian music. Years ago it was Samba. Now we are into Fado ( FA-du). It is an ancient song category reflecting the Portuguese involvement with the sea, sailors, seagulls, distance, love and loss. All this is wrapped up in the word Saudade ( sau-daj), which is like nostalgia blended with love, beauty and yearning. Many singers have excelled in singing Fado, but currently our shining star is Dulce Pontes. She writes it, she sings it, she is brilliant and has an angelic voice that must cover four octaves. Her enthusiasm in songs like Cancao do Mar, Lágrimas and O Laurindinha!, make our hearts beat a little faster and turn up the corners of our mouths.  Dulce Pontes celebrates life with each note!