Fado em Mariza

Sorry for the silence the past week (mad busy at work). I've got jazz-funk (Brian Bromberg concert review), awesome funk with a Latin flare and a shot of jazz ('70s funk legends Mandrill, as promised previously) and more on tap.

But to end the silence, I thought I'd point y'all to something different (for this blog's subject matter): some fado. I just wrote up a Bostonist concert preview for young Fadista Mariza, who plays Berklee Saturday.

My Bostonist preview post for Mariza's gig is here.

Mariza is a follower of fado legend Amália Rodrigues. For those unfamiliar with the genre, fado is the melacholy folk music of Portugal that is expressed with the gut wrenching lament of the blues. Fado is to Portugal as the tango is to Argentina, the flamenco is to Spain, and the rebetika is to Greece.

Born in Mozambique to a Portuguese father and a Mozambican mother, Mariza grew up in Lisbon's Mouraria quarter, where the family moved when she was three. Her parents owned a cafe where Mariza began singing fado at age five (her father drew cartoons to help her remember the lyrics).

Mariza's music honors the deep tradition of Fado Português while breathing new life into the art form and gently pushing it in new directions. Her 2003 album Fado Curvo (curved fado) expressed her philosophy that fado, like fate, isn't a straight line and should not be enclosed by limits.

With her stunningly beautiful and haunting voice, Mariza's updated fado can dig into your chest, rip your heart out, and hand it to you. OK, that's pretty lame as descriptions go (sorry, it's late and been a long week). But trust me, this music can reach deep into your soul . . . if you let it. And you don't need to understand Portuguese.

Here's a taste of Mariza, starting with a track from 2001's Fado em Mim (fado in me). And then a short piece from her latest album, Transparente, the title track to which is a tribute to Mariza's African grandmother. With bouncing African folk rhythms, "Transparente" is much lighter than most of Mariza's fado:

Ó Gente Da Minha Terra -- Mariza: Fado em Mim (2001)

Transparente -- " . . . " Transparente (2006)

purchase Mariza's music from emusic or Amazon.

BONUS: as long as were off the hip hop, jazz, funk & electro tip and devoting a post to fado, here's the legend herself -- Amália Rodrigues (talk about ripping your heart out):

Alfama -- Amália Rodrigues

Amêndoa Amarga -- " . . . "

Lift a glass of vinho verde to Mariza and Amália. Cheers.

UPDATE: here's a track by The Durutti Column that features a particularly haunting and otherworldly Amália Rodrigues sample. In the second section, Vini Reilly's guitar mimics and matches Amália's sampled voice:

Fado -- The Durutti Column: Sex and Death (1994)

. . .