music
Thirteen years have passed since we last heard Jorge Cruz alone on an album. It was 2011 when he released Barra 90, his fourth album under his own name and his first since the birth of Diabo na Cruz. But the story of this wandering boy, who is one of the most esteemed names in Portuguese music and the face of so-called “popular rock”, began much earlier. Born in Gafanha da Nazaré, he went solo in 1999 and it wasn’t until almost ten years later, in 2008, that he became – as Blitz introduced him in Posto Emissor – the helmsman of Diabo na Cruz, the band with which he toured the country from side to side.
When the group split up in 2019, Jorge was away from the stage for health reasons. While he was learning to live with tinnitus, a disease that causes constant ringing and whistling in the head – a real curse for a musician – he was also learning to write and compose for himself. This process gave rise to Transumante (2024), an album with which he is gradually introducing himself to national stages. Taking us back to nomadism and the changes of pasture, when cattle and shepherds go up and down the mountains of the Beiras in search of better sustenance, this album is a set of songs inspired by the rural world. Reflecting on time, childhood and the Portugal that exists beyond the concrete of the cities, Portuguese roots music stands out, crossed with inspirations from the folk tradition of American guitar. Transumante is more than ten beautiful new songs, it’s a reintroduction to Jorge Cruz’s origins, in a sublime encounter between landscape and words.
standing audience
support portuguese republic – culture / directorate-general for the arts. rtcp – network of portuguese theaters and cinemas.
