Went expecting to hear the folksy music from Portugal we have heard many times, and yet could never say we had been blown away by. Until this concert by Ana Moura and her band. About the last first: younger-aged, yet tight ensemble, playing off of one another like old jazz artists, it was cool to watch their jamming; even cooler to hear. This is not your grandfather's fado: they played a few old standards but even those were with a singular modern twist. There were more contemporary pieces that seemed to take as their inspiration the music of Brazilian masters, yet one has to ask which came first, in this case, for indeed it could as well have been fado that inspired Brazilian samba. The Portuguese guitar was masterfully presented (it was a shame not to have noted anywhere on the program the names of the players, so I cannot render them here); the acoustic bass and guitars, each also having their moment to shine in a solo here or there, also were refreshingly downplaying their true abilities until the audience gave them a reason to, and this, I might add, is a true Portuguese attitude: to not throw oneself on one's listener, to always hold something back, so as to test the waters first. However there was nothing reserved about Miss Moura from the first moment she entered the stage (quietly, more like sashayed onto the stage) in her all -black designer gown that hommaged the Latino or flamenco traditions, that she could play with and use to her distinct advantage, to shimmy, tease and outright flaunt her amazing figure...but it wasn't about her looks, that had my college-aged daughter sighing over her "serious girl-crush right now" , ( can't imagine what my post-grad son was feeling) nor about her jet-black, long hair that complemented said gown and made me think of Odette the black swan, but her arms and hands, energized extensions of her psyche; her haunting voice, that doesn't leave your mind for days after, and then only to return at totally unexpected moments, to make you break down and weep, or just lose yourself in thought---this is not only a singer--- this is a legend, a true diva of fado and jazz, who remains approachable, onstage or off. One with the soul of an entire people in her throat. When she gives it up, she gives it all. Forget the commercialized singers we have been forced to hear and watch as they try to outdo one another , to ever-more disappointing effect. Treat yourself to this concert, and to a CD, and don't look back.