Melancholy Baby

Mariza sings the heart of Portugal.

Comments (0) By Susan Froyd Thursday, Apr 16 2009

There are few forms of folk music more soulful than Fado (fado means “fate” in Portuguese), in which a vocalist is backed by two guitarists, one traditional and one classical, to create a people’s music full of melancholic symbolism and saudade, or longing. Fado has fallen in and out of favor over its long history and went way out of vogue in the revolutionary 1970s. But now artists such as Mariza, a young singer who came to Lisbon by way of Mozambique, are bringing new life to the style. A one-woman Fado fan club, Mariza is attracting a fresh audience for the age-old genre with her up-to-date approach and requisitely beautiful voice. (She also may be the only Fado artist to have a special set designed by architect Frank Gehry -- in 2007, at the Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall.)

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The striking Mariza appears tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Macky Auditorium, on the University of Boulder campus, as part of the school’s Artist Series; for tickets, ranging from $12 to $52, call 303-492-8008 or go to www.cuconcerts.org/mariza.html.
Wed., April 22, 7:30 p.m., 2009