Eye Magazine, Mariza's fashionable fado >>
MARIZA CD release party for Fado Em Mim.
Thursday, April 11.
Rancho Relaxo, 300 College. Free.
BY ERROL NAZARETH
A few years back, when Portugal's Misia released her album, Garras Dos Sentidos, she was hailed as the new voice of fado. This year, those honoursa re being bestowed upon a fellow fadista who also goes by a single name: Mariza.
Given that image is everything -- and you don't have to be a cynic to subscribe to this position -- I'm betting we'll keep hearing from Mariza. You need only compare the cover and booklet of Mariza's CD, Fado Em Mim, with those of Misia's Garras Dos Sentidos and you'll see where I'm coming from. The black-and-white shot of Misia makes her look like one of those cabaret singers from the '60s. Mariza's sporting a striking blond do and poses in some highly stylized, sexy shots.
"When the purists see me, they say, 'Who is this crazy girl?' But when they hear me, they respect me," Mariza says from Lisbon. "I have the respect of the older people and the young people. It's very important for me to have the respect of the elders."
And it doesn't hurt to have celebrated Portuguese composer Nuno Nazareth Fernandes pen your album's liner notes and gush, "Mariza is an adorable extraterrestrial being, someone sent by the Great Creator to reinvent fado."
Compared endlessly to American blues and original tango, fado is an evocative and highly melancholic music whose roots can be traced back to the early 19th century, when it flourished in Lisbon's working-class neighbourhoods. A fatalistic vision of life dominates its repertoire, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that it's been called an art form that is "a pain that one enjoys and a happiness that one suffers."
Chatting with Mariza, it becomes obvious that fado chose her and that the decision to make a career singing this mournful music wasn't hers. She has difficulty articulating what drew her to the music and what it does for her. "It wasn't like I said, 'Now I am going to start singing fado,'" she says. "It was like fate. The word fado means destiny or fate, and to sing and play fado you must feel it. You need to have soul to sing it." Mariza, who was raised in the Lisbon district of Mouraria, grew up around fado and began singing it at age five.
"It was in my house, in my neighbourhood," she says. "I saw some of the best singers, so it's like breathing to me. I can't imagine myself not singing fado. I just can't."
When asked to comment on Fernandes' remark that she's reinventing the sound, Mariza initially gets all modest on me, but offers this explanation: "I used to sing blues, jazz and soul, and those influences make me sing fado differently. And perhaps because I have a different style. Traditionally, fado singers have black hair and wear black shawls. I use colours and I wear my hair the way I do because that's me. This wasn't planned." A close look at the credits in the CD booklet reveal a fashion designer and makeup artist were employed by the 26-year-old star -- talk about breaking with fado's conservative tradition!
"It's very important for me to work with a fashion designer," Mariza says firmly. "I was the first woman in Portugal to use a fashion designer, and now all the girls have one. But the important thing is the voice, the soul, and I know I have that."
Now, given fado's less-than-happy content, you're probably wondering why you should pay to hear fado. I mean, how does the singer and audience prepare tosing and hear tales of jealousy, longing and grief? "It's hard to explain, but it involves you," Mariza says. "You don't need to experience those things or to be old to sing fado. The sentiments are so special, and you close your eyes and start singing, and you and the music become one.
"Sometimes when singing," she adds, "I need to open my eyes, because if I don't, I start crying. And I don't know why." 04/01/02
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