Mariza

Fans of Mariza's passion and her immaculately melancholic voice will find plenty of both on the fado revivalist's fourth album. But if you love Mariza for her classic fado, you may be disappointed. The folkloric fire still burns here and there, but Terra often finds Mariza leaving traditional ground for pop and jazz. Sometimes it works, particularly on her genre-jumping collaborations with Buika ("Pequenas Verdades") and Tito Paris ("Beijo de Saudade"). But sometimes ("Vozes Do Mar") it verges on a Celine-like adult contemporariness that might grate on American ears.

B.B. King says we need blues music now more than ever. So maybe it's time to pool global
resources. Mariza is the reigning voice of fado, Portugal's weep–in–your–wine music. Her
latest sets her majestic, unbowed alto over traditional floor–pacing rhythms, alongside the
shivering timbres of Portuguese guitar and jazzy–blue piano. The music's saudade — fado's
animating spirit, which roughly translates as "sad yearning" — transcends its Port... More >