September 14, 2004
Contact: Susan Gwynne
(805) 893-2098
e-mail: gwynne-s@sa.ucsb.edu

Mariza, the spell-binding fado singer from Portugal,
performs at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• Mariza
• Portugal’s fado sensation
• One of Europe’s most acclaimed vocalists performing with a stellar band
• Monday, October 18 / 8 pm
• UCSB Campbell Hall
• General public: $35 / UCSB students: $17
• Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

The fabulously talented Mariza, the soul-baring fado singer from Portugal, will perform with her band on Monday, October 18 at 8 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. Mariza embodies the poetic mystery of this moving music perched tenderly between regret and joy. Born in Mozambique of Portuguese, Spanish, German, African and Indian descent, she moved with her family to Portugal as a baby and began singing fado as a child, even before she could read. Mariza’s rich, sensual voice and her talented musicians on classical guitar, Portuguese guitar and acoustic bass transport listeners to a smoky Lisbon club. Billboard claims, “Her performance is nothing short of a genuine revelation.”

Fado, which literally translated means fate, is often called Portugal’s blues or is compared to Greece’s rebetika, Argentina’s tango or Spain’s flamenco. “They all stand on emotions,” Mariza has explained in an interview. “Fado is an emotional kind of music full of passion, sorrow, jealousy, grief and, often, satire.” Yet fado differs from its musical cousins through its poetic mystery and its ability to fuse dichotomous traits, pointing out life’s cruelty and love’s intensity.

At the very outset of her career Mariza was being compared to Amália Rodrigues, one of the biggest icons of fado. Mariza had her first major national exposure in Portugal in 1999 as one of the guest performers in Tribute Concerts for Amália Rodrigues in the Coliseums of Lisbon and Oporto. Mariza’s impassioned singing immediately sparked interest in the public and in the national media. In 2000, she received the award, “Voice of Fado,” presented by Central FM, Portugal’s national radio station. Mariza walks the fine line that allows her to both genuinely carry the tradition and bring it freshness for today. Her performance style captures the raw emotion that characterizes the genre, but with her own personal twist.

At the age of twenty-six Mariza released her first CD Fado em Mim. This 2002 recording presents six classic fados and six original compositions, all of them tugging at the heart and soul of listeners. The Independent (London) hailed her as “a new singing sensation.” Upon the CD’s release in the United States Amazon.com wrote, “If the legendary singer Amália Rodrigues is the queen of fado, the national song genre of Portugal, this debut by Mariza announces her coronation as its crown princess of the 21st century.”

In 2003 Mariza won both Portugal’s Personality of the Year Award and the BBC 3 World Music Award. Such recognition only grew greater upon the 2004 release of her second CD Fado Curvo. Curvo is the Portuguese word for curved or winding, but Mariza has her own explanation: “For me, curvo means that which is not straight. Life is not a straight line, like passion, like music.” For this release Amazon.com claimed, “Fado Curvo will delight fado aficionados and novices alike. The album showcases Mariza’s startling vocal agility—almost operatic in its power and range and yet playful and starkly expressive.”

Most recently Mariza has been featured on the duet “A Thousand Years” with Sting recorded for the CD Unity, the official Athens 2004 Olympic Games album.

After a recent concert the Boston Globe wrote: “Mariza glided onstage Saturday night—6 feet tall and sinewy, wearing a parti-colored couture ball gown that showed off her bare shoulders, glittering black beads at her throat. With her platinum-bleached hair punk-short and tightly marcelled, she looked like a fantastic, elongated cross between Gwen Stefani and Grace Kelly. Those striped fuchsia leggings peeking out under her petticoat? Weimar-meets-Baby Gap, a la the Dresden Dolls. But it’s hard to compare Mariza’s clarion voice or charismatic stage presence to anyone else’s. At the Berklee Performance Center Saturday night, Mariza sang like an old soul: full-throated and passionate, using self-confident, baroque flourishes to heighten the sense of abandon.”

The audience is invited to remain after the performance to take part in a Meet-the-Artists discussion.

Mariza is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by Tinta Latina, Hotel Oceana and Brander Vineyards. Tickets for the concerts are $35 for the general public and $17 for UCSB students. They are on sale now and can also be purchased at the door, if still available.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
Susan Gwynne at (805) 893-2098.