Hollywood bowl

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so did the hollywood bowl thing happen
Did lani and herb attend
Would love to see footage and a list of what was performed
From the uk
 
The show was last night and tonight. Herb & Lani were on the bill as guest artists. Look at YouTube or some other
video site to see if there are any videos up. I have not seen anything yet.
 
Kind of cool how Sergio interpolated Batida Diferente into One Note Samba.
 
Rather baffling--the purpose of this show was supposedly to remember the 50th anniversary of Brasil 66--and per the You Tube video, Mas Que Nada at the Hollywood Bowl is performed to rap! I could never figure out how Mendes thinks that the assertive sound of rap inserted on top of the melodic swing and sway of Brazilian music is an improvement over his original arrangements--which were never old-fashioned. It's as ridiculous as overdubbing the sound of Glenn Miller's In The Mood to the Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand. In my opinion, it makes no sense and ruins the song, period.
 
Here's a thought. What if Sergio had thought big and decided to do the unexpected at the Hollywood Bowl. What if he had recalled how jazz keyboardists Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock on occasion would go back to their roots and go all acoustic to great acclaim and he said I'll do the same, recalling how his only album in the Grammy Hall of Fame is the all acoustic "Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66." So he would drop the rapper and the LA Symphony, going with simply an acoustic rhythm section. And since the theme of the show was the 50th anniversary of Brasil 66, he of course would feature Lani Hall as lead vocalist. After all even at age 70 she still has a voice of a songbird and can carry the whole show. The songs would be from the classic early acoustic albums such as the first LP and Equinox. There would have to be a few surprises. Why not add a sitar player to a performance of Constant Rain. And for the biggest surprise of all, for the Look of Love bring out surprise guest Janis Hansen to sing those sexy vocal verses joined by Lani on the vocal chorus. And of course have a couple horn players and string players to add the finishing touches to the song a la the Dave Grusin arrangement. That would have brought the house down and would have been a concert for the ages.
 
Also, Gracinha could have done Lapinha.

I hear what is being said, but it sounds like Sergio did his usual "live set" and that includes the "new" version of Mas Que Nada with the rap. I think he does his "new" version of Look of Love too. While, he could have easily done the old arrangements, Sergio has been about "going forward" - I think it started with Brasil'77 in 1971.
 
If he did the "roots" thing, I'd love to hear a throwback to the early 60s Brazil/jazz combos he had, a la Dance Moderno, Brasil '65, Quiet Nights, etc. Those really highlighted his unique piano talents.
 
From L.A. Daily News:

The Hollywood Bowl was festive as all get-out on Friday night, the first of two sold out evenings celebrating “Sergio Mendes & 50 Years of Brasil ’66.”

As if celebrating the keyboard-playing 75-year-old Brazilian bandleader wasn’t enough, the evening was also a celebration of the Rio Olympics and that city’s festive Carnival. Complete with Brazilian singers, drummers and colorful dancers in the dazzling outfits we’ve all come to know.

Mendes, his band of five musicians including three drummers and percussionists and his two traditional female vocalists, were joined by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conducted by Thomas Wilkins, and guests that included his lifelong trumpeter buddy Herb Alpert and his wife Lani Hall, who was the lead singer on all the wonderful Brasil ’66 hits during their ‘60s heyday, as well as jazz vet Diane Reeves, who sang with Mendes in the early ‘80s.

The Bowl Orchestra had the stage to themselves for the shortened first half of the show. After opening with French composer Leo Arnaud’s “Bugler’s Dream” that’s become the theme of the Olympic Games here in the U.S., Wilkins, et al, showcased several Brazilian classical pieces, including a shortened “A Chegada dos Chandangos” by that nation’s best known musician and composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Pablo de Saraste’s themes from Bizet’s “Carmen” they called, tongue in cheek, “A Carmen (Miranda) Fantasy.”

Mendes and his group, featuring vocalists Gracinha Leporace (Mendes’ wife) and Katie Hampton, presented spot-on versions of their Brasil ’66 bossa nova-influenced hit takes on Lennon-McCartney’s “Fool on the Hill” (it hit No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart and spent six weeks at No. 1 on it’s easy listening/adult contemporary chart in 1968), Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “The Look of Love” (No. 4 Top 100 and No. 2 adult contemporary also in 1968) and a particular favorite, the delightfully hippy, trippy pop gem, “Pretty World” (No. 4 adult contemporary).

Those who thought Alpert and Hall would be performing lengthy sets were disappointed as the duo was there solely to honor their pal, Mendes.

The pair’s two songs, “Upa Neguinho,” that Hall recorded with Brasil ’66 in 1968, and Jobim’s “One Note Samba,” from Brasil ‘66’s debut album, “Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66,” we’re almost all Hall with a trumpet solo from her husband thrown in here and there.

Reeves and Mendes clearly have great affection for each other as they performed Alan and Marilyn Bergman’s “Like a Lover” that both Reeves and Brasil ’66 recorded separately; and “Bridges,” the title song of a 1999 Reeves album.

The evening ended with Brasil ‘66’s trademark number, “Mas Que Nada,” followed by the sights and sounds of Carnival with the stage filled with colorful Brazilian singers and musicians as dancers did their thing up and down the aisles. Finally, the Bowl Orchestra ended the evening with Mendes’ 2011 “Real in Rio,” followed by the full version of the Olympics theme as fireworks filled the sky overhead. It was one heck of a festive night; one for which the Bowl is so well known.
 
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