Mariza, one of the fastest rising stars in the galaxy of your Portuguese fado singers, opens her album with a traditional song of fate, then turns to new materials with lyrics by contemporary poets and accompaniments that incorporate jazz harmonies.  The artist sings passionately of loneliness, nostalgia, solitude and death. She also performs upbeat numbers dealing with romantic misadventure and hopeful feelings.  Portuguese guitar, Spanish guitar and bass accompany her in most numbers.  But in one song, a cellist plays a countermelody, and in others, piano and muted trumpet add contrasting colors.  While Mariza sometimes reduces her edgy voice to a sensuous whisper she is never far from the wailing quality that epitomizes fado and links it to the heart-wrenched sadness of flamenco, tango and blues.  The album gives a tantalizing preview of the diva who will make her local debut this summer at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

-Wilma Salusbury