MARO

• Reduced mobility

A lot of people may well remember her representing Portugal at Eurovision 2022, where she ended up in a very commendable ninth place, but there’s much more to Lisbon-born Mariana Brito da Cruz Forjaz Secca than that brief moment of TV glory. She began studying classical piano at the age of four, started singing at eleven, studied at Berklee in Boston, was mentored by Jacob Collier, got her start opening for Jesse J and settled in Los Angeles to take her career to new heights. And boy has she hit them. She has reached cruising speed: six exquisitely sensitive and subtle albums in the last six years, in which she has redefined folk music with her prodigious voice. The latest example is the sublime Hortelã (2022), recorded as a trio with the Catalan guitarists Darío Barroso & Pau Figueres. This is her first visit to Villanos del Jazz, and all indications are that it won’t be her last.