Fast-rising Portuguese fado star Mariza (pictured) calls her new album "Fado Curvo." "Curvo," she says, implies the idea that life does not unfold in a straight line, "like passion, like music." Mariza may have one of the more striking hairstyles in pop -- a close-cropped, bleached-blond look that would turn heads in the hippest Haight Street salons -- but her approach to the melancholy folkloric music of Portugal is the stuff of an old soul. Already a chart-topping artist in her homeland and a BBC award winner, this exquisite talent may be the next world-music sensation to transcend category in America.

MARIZA. 9 p.m. Saturday. Bimbo's 365 Club, 1025 Columbus Ave., San Francisco. Tickets: $22-$25. (415) 474-0365, www.bimbos365club.com.