Sergio Mendes endears himself to Filipino audience

It is not often that a musician will get to reach the ripe age of 70 and still be a crowd-drawer. Only a handful of artists are known to belong to this special class, and Brazilian music icon Sergio Mendes is one of them. Mendes, a legend at the age of 73, shows no signs of slowing down, as evident in his performance during his one-night concert in Manila last November 15, 2014 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Bringing to the country his arsenal of equally great musicians in the form of Brasil 2014 band, they lit up the concert stage with their signature Bossa Nova and Latin Jazz groove that captured and enthralled the audience for hours.

Jacqui Magno. Photo via official Ovation Productions Facebook fan page

Following the endearing opening set of local Jazz artist Jacqui Magno, Sergio Mendes appeared onstage with his band and performed an explosive welcome set which included Pretty World and a bilingual rendition of Waters of March. Sergio then pulled out a piece of paper and proceeded to read from it: “Magandang gabi, Manila. Salamat po. Ako ay maligaya sa aking pagbabalik, mahal ko ang Pilipinas.”

The singer tried his best to read in Filipino, failing at times, but ended up getting the warmest chuckles from his audience. “I only have beautiful memories of the Philippines,” the Brazilian artist recounts. He invited everyone to relive his musical journey that spanned decades, beginning in the 1960s. He opened their next set with “Girl From Ipanema,” which he described as still fresh sounding in 2014 as it was in 1961. Sergio ends the song with a witty line, saying, “That’s it, that’s the girl from Boracay.”

Sergio Mendes and Brasil 2014. Photo via official Ovation Productions Facebook fan page

Sergio Mendes and Brasil 2014 performed more of their Bossa Nova hits from the 60s. The singer-songwriter said it was unbelievable that 40 years later, Black Eyed Peas will be doing a cover of his song. “By the way,” Sergio spoke with a bit of pride, “Apl De Ap is from the Philippines.” The group performed more upbeat songs during the next sets, this time joined by American rapper H2O. The group performed a series of Bozza Nova music and showed off great musical flexibility by infusing some urban flavor with H2O doing the rap parts while Sergio killed some good riffs on his keyboard. Even H2O was fascinated by this display of musicality, singing “Sergio is on board, right?”

The group continued to the ballad part of their set, with Sergio telling the audience, “Filipinos have something in common with Brazilians, and that’s being romantic.” He dedicated their first song off the ballad set to his “very special guests” Jorge Araneta and President Benigno Aquino III, making lots of heads turn sideways looking for the main man of the Philippines, at which point most of the crowd realized that all along they have actually been watching the show with the president.

Sergio also introduced well-known Jazz singer Joe Pizzulo, whose voice showed some signs of strain but handled it elegantly. Just like Sergio, there was no slowing him down. Aside from singing his signature song “Never Gonna Let You Go” along with Sergio’s wife, he also sang “Bridges.”

Joe Pizzulo. Photo via official Ovation Productions Facebook fan page

Parts of the group’s set also centered on showing the great artistry of each of Brasil 2014’s members, with the percussionist practically stealing the show by not just doing percussions but also displaying some cool capoeira moves—capoeira being a modern day rhythmic movement that is a representation of Brazil culture.

It was a lengthy display of great musical talent but the audience wasn’t complaining. The group delivered so much that at the end, just as Sergio and his band bowed before everyone, the crowd started shouting “More!” and “Encore!”, prompting the group to return to the stage and perform a few more songs, including Mas Que Nada. For one night indeed, Sergio Mendes was able to “Brazilianize” his Filipino audience. advt

Spotted in the crowd: President Benigno Aquino III, Senate President Franklin Drilon, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares, and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas