Just Met a Girl Named Mariza

Mariza.  At UCSB’s Campbell Hall, Monday, October 18.

            We don’t really have a comparative North American Framework in which to put the phenomenon that is Mariza.  More than a singer, not quite an actress, not exactly a model, but definitely an ambassador, the Portuguese entertainer represents her culture well in a dramatic multi-dimensional mode beyond our normal scope.

            “Fado” means “Fate, or Destiny” in Portuguese, a fecund definition if ever there was one, and it embodies a singing style loaded with all of the drama you might expect in an art-form synthesized from Spanish and African influences (Mariza was born in Mozambique, raised in Portugal).  “Fado is all of the emotions,” Mariza explained, describing the 150-year-old-plus song form.  “Sadness, fear, anger, longing, jealousy, happiness, and of course, love.”

            More of a colorful swan in some ways than a human being, Mariza swooped and glided over the Campbell Hall stage, six feet tall and resplendent in a number of elegant costumes.  Her neck clasped in black beaded necklaces, her exceptionally long legs—extended on high heels—were wrapped in lacy skirts, and a black shawl sat on her shoulders, while the young artist’s close-cropped, marcelled hair framed her face with a delicate white shell.  Her singing was incomparable.  High and hovering, throaty and passionate, forceful, then whispered, she showed exactly how that full range of emotions is explored, often within the landscape of a single song.  Mariza told stories of Portugal, how the national color is “black—it is everywhere,” and invited us to imagine we are in a bar, drinking red wine, and slowly becoming aware of this magical historical place in which we find ourselves, where a fadista, dressed in black, sings to us.

            We were indeed transported by Mariza and her three magnificent cohorts, Spanish guitarist Antonio Neto, acoustic bass player Laurindo de Sousa, and especially by Portuguese guitar or guitarra player, Luis Gerriero, whose instrument evokes the greek bouzouki.

            For the highlight the band and singer stepped away from their amplification and huddled center stage to play, and sing, magnificently, to the very appreciative house.  In her home country, and won many awards, including “Personality of the Year,” nominated by Portugal’s president.  Stopping in Santa Barbara on her first north American tour, mariza showed how she is most assuredly captivating the U.S., too.

Reviewed by Ducan Wright