Mariza
"Fado Curvo"
Time Square Records


Montreal has had a long-standing love affair with Cape Verde's Cesaria Evora.  Her morna song style, filled with nostalgia and agony and ecstasy, has captured the hearts of all who listen and connect with her humanity.  That's why Mariza, from Portugal, is a natural for this city.  Morna, after all, is a direct descendant of Mariza's emotion-drenched fado genre, built on the same depth of feeling and yearning.  Not only that, but Mariza has vibrant youth and a voice that melts ice.  Fado em Mim, her 2002 debut album, was the biggest selling fado album since Amalia Rodrigues, the goddess of fado who reigned in the first half of the 20th century.  This year Mariza was named Best European Artist at the BBC Awards for World Music.  Fado Curvo is more than enough extra assurance of her remarkable gifts.

Daniel Feist