By Deardra Shuler

Photo by Isabel Pinto

Mariza Reis Nunes (a.k.a. Mariza) looked something like a Portuguese Marquesa as she stepped out onto the Carnegie Hall stage.  Reed thin, Mariza looked elegant in her long black Spanish-styled cone-shaped dress with laced bodice and narrow bands of red, yellow, and green ribbons wrapped strategically around her hooped black skirt.  It was a lovely dress to swirl in and swirl she did as she regaled her audience with out stretched arms and a style of music not heard very often on the east coast. Born in Mozambique to an African mother and Portuguese father, Mariza moved to Portugal as a young child.  Raised in Lisbon, in a district where she often heard the songs of the fadistas, it is no wonder Mariza was enraptured by the music known as Fado.

Walnut colored with platinum blonde short cropped hair worn in marcelled waves, one immediately senses there is an exotic flair to Mariza.  As she sings she explains the meaning of the music known as Fado.  “Fado means destiny or fate.  Even as a young girl, I knew I was fated to sing this music.  My grandmother was wise and she told me to follow my destiny,” explained the skilled artist.  And Mariza is fated to sing this age-old Portuguese styled music and give it a fresh face.  She has a true voice.  A voice so akin to this musical style that one sees it is clearly a gift given to her by the Gods.

A child of miscegenation, as she sang song after song, I began to wonder if the African part of her had been overwhelmed by the Portuguese side, but suddenly Mariza announced that she is part black and part Portuguese and gave reverence to her African side by dedicating a song to her African grandmother entitled Transparent. 

There is nothing transparent about Fado however.  “Fado is the music of passion,” remarked Mariza struggling to gather enough English words together to express her sentiment.  And indeed, it is a passionate music. Some claim that Fado’s origins began in Portugal in 1820 while others say much earlier.  It is also said that Fado music is a mixture of African slave rhythms and Arabic influence, mixed with the traditional music of Portuguese sailors, since many of the songs are about love and the sea.

When Mariza sings Fado she sings it with such passion and pathos one can truly call her a soul singer.  She sings from her soul in a voice that is rich, lush, clear, and so full of musical pining and longing, that if you never heard Fado before, you will remember it henceforth.  Fado is a fervent music, its heart music.  This fact bears out in Mariza’s face and voice which conveys sadness, pain, passion, and vocal yearning.  Every stanza of the songs she sings are filled with emotion yet it is in harmony with the haunting refrains of the Portuguese, Acoustic and Bass guitars played by Luis Guerreiro, Antonio Neto, and Vasco Sousa.  Joao Pedro Ruela rounds out the music with his rhythmic percussion. 

One could say that Mariza began singing professionally at the age of five when her father sketched out cartoon stories that enabled Mariza to remember the lyrics.  It wasn’t long before Mariza was a steady visitor to the Fado Houses where singing is a part of life.   Although, I may have unknowingly heard Fado before, this writer cannot claim to know much about it.  Thus, I will say I was recently introduced to this languishing musical genre by Mariza during her Carnegie Hall concert.  I can say, while listening to it however, that I felt it was much akin to the Blues. I would not be surprised if Fado is the Blues sung Portuguese style.  Mariza certainly has brought Fado front and center and modernized it, projecting its qualities well on stage and in her recordings. 

Mariza’s first CD, Fado em Mim, presented six classic Fado tuness and six original compositions.  Her guest performance in 1999 at Tribute Concerts for Amalia Rodrigues in the Coliseums of Lisbon and Oporto were broadcast live on one of Portugal’s famed networks.  This brought her to the attention of the media.  After winning the “Voice of Fado” Award in 2000, she gained national attention.  In 2003, Mariza won the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music in the European category.

Dubbed the “Queen of Fado,” Mariza expresses her sentiments well in one of her songs:      “There is a song of the people, I don’t know whether to call it Fado…Hearing it, there is a new rhythm in the being which I have sheltered…Hearing it, I am who I would be…If I could be what I wish…It is a simple melody, like those that teach you to live…But its so soothing, this vague sad song…that my soul no longer weeps, nor do I have a heart…I am a foreign emotion, an error of a dream that’s gone…I sing carelessly and end up with meaning!”