Saturday Night with Maria Joao

Just spent an i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e couple of hours experiencing a 1999 performance by the stunning Maria Joao Quartet, another terrific discovery on Roku's ClassicalTV channel (also available at www.classicaltv.com).

Here is a quote from ClassicalTV on this thing:

This recording was made when Portuguese singer Maria João appeared at the Bayerischer Hof night club in Munich with Marcio Doctor (percussion), Miroslav Tadic (guitar) and her long-standing partner, the brilliant pianist Mario Laginha. In this intimate venue, Joao's vocally and physically dynamic performance created an electric atmosphere.

And that's putting it mildly ...

Now I must get back to scouring the Internet for anything more I can hear/see of her tonight. YouTube has dozens of clips, showing her extraordinary range of abilities, but none I have seen so far bring together what the Munich night club performance does. Two I have seen so far stand out, however: one is a live improv piece with Bobby McFerrin, and another has Joao collaborating with legendary jazz pianist Aki Takase. Not to mention her amazing covers of music from Bjork to Tom Waits to Lerner & Loewe. And the dancing! Maybe that has something to do with her mother who came from Mozambique. It's ... well ... all good.