Review | The Night Fado Enveloped the Lobero: Mariza’s Return
Famed Fado Chanteuse Mariza Made a Welcome and Long-Awaited Return to Town, Transfixing a Lobero Theatre Crowd
A happy, duly transfixed Lobero Theatre crowd was temporarily and attitudinally flown to Lisbon (a k a Lisboa) last week, thanks to the transporting power of the fado queen known simply as Mariza. Fado, the melancholic but strong and proud vernacular music born in the Alfama and Mouraria districts of Lisbon, is an acquired taste among “world music” fans, but once acquired, can be a love until death. And Mariza, now in her artistic stride at age 50, is the accepted ambassador of this unique musical language.
She has performed in Santa Barbara before, at the Lobero some 15 years ago and at Campbell Hall in 2004, and her recent appearance had the wistful warming effect of a re-welcoming encounter. While she has veered into hybrid detours around purist fado over the course of her career and ample discography, the mothership genre keeps tugging her back to the source. Her latest full album, 2020’s Mariza Canta Amália, pays deep tribute to reigning fado goddess, the late Amália Rodrigues (1920-1999).
Some may question her stylistic credentials for being included in the “Jazz at the Lobero” series, but jazz elements do apply here, indirectly and otherwise. Her fine band (including the indigenous Portuguese guitar) unveils solos that show jazz colors and the nocturnal, improvisational spirit of the music. The last time I caught her live was at the Vossa Jazz Festival in Norway, where her sound and coiled charisma felt akin to a Nordic sensibility.
In other words, Mariza’s fado translates well in many settings, demographics and venues. As it happens, the Lobero’s intimate and historic ambience suits Mariza’s music beautifully, as demonstrated on impact, in a show which opened in darkness, a dramatic stage set for the emergence of the sparkly gowned Mariza’s presence.
Fado basks in a signature sweet melancholic spirit, but with bravado and passion in the delivery, a paradox Mariza has mastered. During a set list including “Meu fado meu,” the new “Amor,” and “Oracao” (“Prayer”), Mariza established her sense of place and prowess onstage. A set highlight came with her emotionally drenched intensity of the ballad “O Gente Da Minha Terra” — from her early career-launching 2001 album Fado em Mim and in a rap-spiced remix from last year — replete with her pregnant pauses, burnished whispers and harmonic tensions.
At one point, the singer moved stage front and delivered, boldly, sans microphone. It wasn’t her most subtle moment in the show, vocally, but the gesture reminded us that this fado queen can move easily from a sultry sad whisper to a soulful bellow, with her well-established musical integrity intact. She’s welcome back to the 805 any old time.
