Mariza Live in London (2004)

The new queen of the Portuguese folk music known as fado shines in the impressive Mariza Live in London a 2003 concert recorded at the Union Chapel in London The twentysomething Lisbon resident has been hailed as the successor to fado legend Amália Rodrigues now after two wellreceived CDs comes Marizas first filmed concert performance and it is stunning Mariza is backed primarily by acoustic guitar acoustic bass guitar and Portuguese guitar a 12string instrument that looks something like a lute and sounds a bit like a Greek bouzouki there is some piano as well and Guy Barkers muted trumpet provides O Deserto with a pronounced jazzy feel But the singer is the main attraction here and the power and passion of Marizas delivery on Barco Negro and nearly all the others in the 16song set including more upbeat celebratory numbers like Oica La o Senhor Vinho the introductions are in English but the tunes are all in Portuguese are undeniable