Pedro Abrunhosa

Few Portuguese singers have moved as easily between the jazz club and the pop chart as Pedro Abrunhosa. Born in Porto on 20 December 1960, he came to songwriting through a serious grounding in jazz, playing double bass in local bands and teaching in music and art schools across the city. He helped found the Jazz School of Porto, and that training never quite left his work, which sits between pop songwriting and the looser feel of the bandstand.

His solo career began in 1994 with the album Viagens, recorded with the band Bandemónio and featuring the saxophonist Maceo Parker. It reached number one in Portugal and sold 140,000 copies, earning triple platinum status and making him the fastest-selling act in the country's record history. Over the following months he played more than 120 concerts, and songs such as Não Posso Mais and Socorro became dance-floor hits. His second album, Tempo, in 1996, consolidated that success, and six of his eight studio albums have topped the Portuguese chart. He also appeared as himself in Manoel de Oliveira's 1999 film The Letter.