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CD Review
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Shepherd Express, CD Review >>
Mariza
Concerto em Lisboa (Times Square)
With its buoyant melancholy and vernacular poetry rooted in bars and brothels, and its Afro-Brazilian origins, fado has been called Portuguese blues. It has been the country's urban soul music since the 19th century and for much of the 20th was patronized by Portugal's fascist regime. In recent years fado has undergone a rebirth among younger audiences who embraced it as their own music, a breakwater of local identity against the rising tide of globalization. Fado's most popular young star, Mariza, is a striking, ebullient woman of Portuguese-African descent, much like the music itself.
The audio disc of Mariza's live album, Concerto em Lisboa, reveal a singer deep in drama and longing, the emotions of her poetic lyrics projecting past the boundary of language. The music often sounds Greek or Eastern Mediterranean, perhaps a result of Portugal's Moorish legacy or the distinct Portuguese guitar, which resembles a wide-bidoed oud. The accompanying DVD contains the documentary Mariza and the Story of Fado. Directed by Britain's Simon Broughton (co-editor of The Rough Guide to World Music), the beautifully filmed and edited production includes interviews and archival foorage and songs performed by Mariza in concert and intimate taverns - all of it putting the singer and her music in fascinating context. Fado is to Lisbon as reggae is to Kingston, and the scenes of Portugal's capital place the city in an enchanting light.
- David Luhrssem 03/08/07
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