Mariza

Fado singer Mariza Nunes was born in Mozambique in 1973, but her family moved to Portugal when she was 3 years old, and it was there that she would find her musical soul. Mariza grew up in the Moderia district of Lisbon, said to be the neighborhood in Lisbon where fado was born in the 19th century. The music still fills the air in Moderia, and it was in this heady atmosphere that Mariza came to appreciate this melancholy artform. She was singing fado by age 5, influenced by the singers she heard in her parents' café.

As a teenager Mariza continued to sing fado, but other forms – jazz and bossa nova in particular – piqued her interest as well. Being a teenager, she was drawn to music she perceived as being more hip than something as traditional as fado, and she even pursued her interest in bossa nova all the way to Brazil.

Mariza continued to sing fado, mostly for friends, but she finally happened to perform a fado in a friend's home and among the listeners was a man who owned a fado house. He asked her to perform once a week and she agreed. This weekly engagement led her to a local producer, who suggested they make an album. The result was Fado em Mim, Mariza's 2002 debut – an album that won her accolades at home and abroad.

She has since immersed herself in the fado tradition, working to master the classic repertoire as well as bringing her own style to the genre. Her passion for the music is matched by her inclination to take an innovative approach to the interpretation of the songs, with a dramatic and sometimes ironic stage persona. Likewise she has eschewed the rather somber clothing donned by fadistas who have preceded her, preferring a style of dress that, while remaining tasteful, is more vibrant and elegant, and she's a thoughtful accessorizer in the bargain.

Mariza has released two albums since her debut project – Fado Curvo (2003) and Transparante (2005) – and has, in a relatively short span of time, garnered a good deal of recognition throughout Europe, winning a BBC Radio 3 award for World Music in 2003. Mariza has also made a point of mounting tours in the U.S. which have given her an atypical American visibility for a fadista – a development that has been beneficial for both the performer and the music itself. —Phillip Van Vleck