Sergio Mendes celebrates the Rio Olympics — and his long-running band — at the Hollywood Bowl
Sergio Mendes had come to the Hollywood Bowl as both an ambassador and a celebrant.
The headlining act in a program of Brazilian music titled “An Olympic Carnival,†the keyboardist and bandleader from Rio de Janeiro was representing his hometown as it hosts the Summer Games. And he was marking the 50th anniversary of Brasil ’66, the group with which he broke out in the United States doing lightly samba-fied renditions of pop hits like “Fool on the Hill†and “The Look of Love.â€
“Most people in my band, they were not born [then],†Mendes, 75, said with a laugh as he gestured toward his current accompanists.
Yet it was in a different role — as Cupid — that Mendes provided the most meaningful moment in Friday’s concert.
That’s how singer Lani Hall described the veteran musician, who by drafting her to front Brasil ’66 ended up connecting Hall with trumpeter Herb Alpert when Alpert signed the band to A&M Records (not long after “The Girl from Ipanema†set off a Stateside bossa nova craze).
Hall and Alpert married in 1973, and on Friday, the couple joined Mendes at the Bowl to thank him for introducing them and to perform “Upa Neguinho†and “One Note Samba,†both of which had a heartfelt warmth that went beyond a mere tourist’s notion of fun in the sun.
Much of the rest of this show, which repeated Saturday night, seemed content with upholding shallow thinking about Brazil — soft-pedaled propaganda, essentially, at a moment when many there insist the Olympics are glossing over the hard truths of life in Rio.
There were well-rehearsed standards such as “Ela é Carioca†and “Waters of March†lacquered with strings from the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. There was a capoeira demonstration during “Promessa/Berimbau.†And there was a troupe of elaborately costumed dancers shimmying through the aisles.
More troublingly, a cartoon of a rapper named H2O peppered “Mas Que Nada†with corny rhymes that made the song less likely to charm young hip-hop fans. Then, scenes from an actual cartoon, the animated movie “Rio,†flickered across the Bowl’s video screens as Mendes performed “Real in Rio,†which he composed for the film.
It was a commercial break in the middle of an extended commercial.
The concert had high points, as when Dianne Reeves came out to belt “Like a Lover,†the jazz singer’s booming voice an appealing counterpoint to the nimble Brazilian rhythms.
“The Look of Love,†with laser-precise vocals by Katie Hampton and Mendes’ wife, Gracinha Leporace, was good too: self-conscious mid-’60s sophistication cut through with a jittery energy that finally put across some of the emotional nuance typical of the best Brazilian music.
But those were exceptions in a production that felt more perfunctory than the occasion demanded.
“I wish I could do this gig every day of my life,†Mendes said, and it was easy to believe he does.
Twitter: @mikaelwood
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