JC
The Sun-Sentinal interviews Mariza, a fado singer who has just released her third album, Transparente. She talks about her mixed heritage and how fado has grounded her in duality.

Singer Mariza sometimes feels out of place both in Portugal, where she has long lived, and Africa, where she was born. But the emerging star knows she belongs to both, thanks in large part to fado. That enduring Portuguese musical style reflects life’s joy and pain, often simultaneously.

Born in Mozambique of mixed heritage, Mariza moved with her family to Lisbon as a child. She grew up in the port city of Mouraria, where fado was born. Surrounded by music, she began singing at age 5. Though she has experimented with pop, jazz and bossa nova, Mariza returned to fado.

Her latest album was recorded in Brazil with Grammy-winning producer Jacques Morelenbam….The trip to Brazil helped the Afro-European singer better understand her genre. As she was, fado was born in Africa and nurtured in Portugal. But she is still learning about the music and herself. “You feel in the middle sometimes and you feel strange about it,” she said of her mixed heritage. “More and more, the African part is making sense to me.”