Mariza

Mariza
Saturday, November 14, 2009

Mariza sings the Portuguese soul. Mariza has in a few short years gone from singing in the backroom of a Lisbon bar to being recognized the world over as the queen of the Portuguese musical style know as fado. “I fell in love with the sound of the Portuguese guitar coming up through the floor of our family tavern and I started to sing fado when I was five years old,” Mariza recalls. From those early roots, her dedication to this musical heritage of her country took her to international awards, including being elected the Best European Artist by BBC Radio 3 in 2001, 2005, and 2006, and being named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2005. In 2006, the Portuguese President awarded Mariza the Order of Henry the Navigator.

“Fado is the traditional music of Portugal - proud, austere and deeply melancholic. Mariza is the music's biggest star for a reason: She sings it not as musty nostalgia but as exuberant twenty-first-century pop, with a low, mesmerizing alto that's as commanding as any pop singer today...remaking fado's ancient sadness into a majestic modern sound." Rolling Stone

www.mariza.com