Talking about the history of Portuguese pop-rock is to talk about JAFUMEGA. The long and diverse musical experience of the members, as well as their great technical proficiency, allowed the group to spread their talent across very different genres, which would be decisive in shaping the sound of the band they formed 45 years ago, unparalleled in the groups of the time.
During the Portuguese rock boom, JAFUMEGA took the country by storm: "A ponte é uma passagem… prá outra margem" [The bridge is a passage... to the other side] was one of the most heard and repeated verses in the early 1980s. The hit song Ribeira [Riverside], inspired by the riverside area of Porto, was released in 1981 and became a major radio success, allowing the band to sign a contract with the multinational record label Polygram.
The self-titled album recorded in 1982 by Polygram features new songs that had a great impact up to the present day, such as Latin'America, Kasbah and Nó Cego [Blind knot, expression to designate a difficult situation].
In 1985, JAFUMEGA decided to stop. They left behind a brief but intense passage through Portuguese pop-rock. 45 years after their formation, they are touring again, to celebrate with the audience who followed them in the 1980s, but also with those who discovered the band in the last decades and never had the opportunity to see them live.
Luís Portugal (vocals), José Nogueira (saxophones and keyboard), and Mário Barreiros (guitars) remain from the original lineup, after the departure, for personal reasons, of Álvaro Marques and Pedro Barreiros and the death of Eugénio Barreiros, the composer of the group's most emblematic songs. Currently, three other guest musicians join this trio in live performances: Miguel Ferreira (keyboards and vocals), Nuno Coelho (bass guitar) and Ricardo Coelho (drums).