Armando Augusto Freire, known as Armandinho or Armando Freire (11 October 1891 - 21 December 1946) was a Portuguese fado guitarist and composer.
American travel writer Lawton Mackall in a 1931 book Portugal For Two was the first foreign writer to give an account of Armandinho's performances, but by this time Armandinho was already legendary in Portugal.Paul Vernon A history of the Portuguese fado: Volume 1 1998 "Armandinho (1891-1946) was already a legendary figure by the time McCaul's account of him was written."
He was known for playing on the 12-string Portuguese guitar (), and considered as one of the heirs of the fado tradition of Petrolino (Luís Carlos da Silva, who recorded just once in 1904).Biografia (Portuguese)Travel Portugal 2007 "The main names of this period were: Alfredo Marceneiro, Amalia Rodrigues, Maria Teresa de Noronha and Armandinho and Jaime Santos (guitar players)."Armandinho (biography, in Portuguese)Abderrazak Bannour Il Mediterraneo vede, scrive, ascolta 2005- Page 362 "Nelle quartine anonime è racchiusa la filosofia fadista, edificata sulla parola-concetto saudade, che è nostalgia, ... Maria dos Anjos, Armandinho (1891-1946), Martinho d'Assuncào (1914-1992) virtuoso di viola, Raul Néry (1921) fondatore del ..."
Recordings Fados From Portugal, Vol. 1 including :pt:Fado do Ciúme - composed by Frederico Valério made famous by Amália Rodrigues.CD review digest: Jazz, popular, etc: Volume 7, Issue 4 1994 "Fados from Portugal, Volume 1 (Fado de Llsboa 1928-1936). ... guitar (three-fifths the size of the Spanish, rather more like a lute with 12 strings instead of 8) is heard most clearly in solos like Armandinho's 'Fao o Cuime'."
External links Armandinho's profile on discogs.com
References