Last night (Apr. 17th), the Walt Disney Theater in the new Doctor Phillips Performing Arts Center in Orlando presented "A Night In Rio" with headliner Sergio Mendes and opening act Eliane Elias.
Before a sellout crowd, Ms. Elias opened the proceedings with a rousing small-combo Brazilian jazz performance. She chose songs like the old 40s classic "Brazil" along with brand new songs that she and her bass-man composed (with a seemingly familiar title of "Baby, You Can Drive My Car"). Ms. Elias is proficient at piano playing as well as singing and wowed the crowd.
After intermission, Sergio Mendes and company took the stage and dazzled the audience with songs from his many eras of recording fame. The "company" was sort of the A-team of Sergio's groups. Mrs. Mendes, Gracinha Leporace led the group of three female singers which included Katie Hampton and a young black woman whose name I didn't catch. Rapper/singer H2O joined the proceedings when required as did special guest Joe Pizzulo. This was a treat for me as nether Gracinha nor Joe Pizzulo were around in Sarasota a couple of years ago.
The set list included some surprises. I'm always impressed when they do stuff from HORIZONTTE ABERTO and last night they did both "Fato Consumado" and "Milagre". Early on, Sergio dug way back in his bag of songs for "Ela e Carioca" and "Garota de Ipanema". They did "Magalenha", "Roda", "The Look Of Love", a gorgeous duet of "So Many Stars" with Gracinha and Joe Pizzulo.
As is customary at Sergio's shows, there's usually a section featuring the percussionist in the group. Starting off with "Promise Of A Fisherman" the song segues into the long percussive part of "The Circle Game" as the percussionist features an array of musical tools like the cuica.
The crowd (featuring a number of Brazilians now living or vacationing in Orlando) was thrilled and impressed with "Pais Tropical", the modern BOM TEMPO edition, "Agua de Beber" (the ENCANTO version), and "Waters Of March" with its more modern approach also from ENCANTO.
Joe Pizzulo was welcomed as he performed "Never Gonna Let You Go" with Katie Hampton filling in the female role in that one. The crowd seemed to perk up a bit - I don't think people to this day have a clue that that song was a Sergio Mendes record!
Some Brasil '66 era songs were sprinkled through the proceedings like "Fool on The Hill", "Laia Ladaia", "Goin' Out Of My Head" along with a melding of some of those songs with their newer counterparts like "Berimbau/Consolacao", "The Frog", and a little bit of "Surfboard" from TIMELESS.
Two newer songs from MAGIC were performed; "Don't Say Goodbye" had its vocal performed by Joe Pizzulo, while "Sou Eu" was a group effort.
The encore consisted of two songs. "Mas Que Nada" was a hybrid of the Black-eyed Peas-influenced version with the traditional chorus performed by the group - and the crowd. Strains of "Oaria raio, Oba Oba Oba" must have echoed throughout downtown Orlando. And as they say on late-night TV, "But wait, there's more."
Sergio and company continued the love-fest with a rendition of "Tristeza", a party-atmosphere-song from LOOK AROUND that fit the bill nicely and fittingly closed the proceedings down.
Harry
Before a sellout crowd, Ms. Elias opened the proceedings with a rousing small-combo Brazilian jazz performance. She chose songs like the old 40s classic "Brazil" along with brand new songs that she and her bass-man composed (with a seemingly familiar title of "Baby, You Can Drive My Car"). Ms. Elias is proficient at piano playing as well as singing and wowed the crowd.
After intermission, Sergio Mendes and company took the stage and dazzled the audience with songs from his many eras of recording fame. The "company" was sort of the A-team of Sergio's groups. Mrs. Mendes, Gracinha Leporace led the group of three female singers which included Katie Hampton and a young black woman whose name I didn't catch. Rapper/singer H2O joined the proceedings when required as did special guest Joe Pizzulo. This was a treat for me as nether Gracinha nor Joe Pizzulo were around in Sarasota a couple of years ago.
The set list included some surprises. I'm always impressed when they do stuff from HORIZONTTE ABERTO and last night they did both "Fato Consumado" and "Milagre". Early on, Sergio dug way back in his bag of songs for "Ela e Carioca" and "Garota de Ipanema". They did "Magalenha", "Roda", "The Look Of Love", a gorgeous duet of "So Many Stars" with Gracinha and Joe Pizzulo.
As is customary at Sergio's shows, there's usually a section featuring the percussionist in the group. Starting off with "Promise Of A Fisherman" the song segues into the long percussive part of "The Circle Game" as the percussionist features an array of musical tools like the cuica.
The crowd (featuring a number of Brazilians now living or vacationing in Orlando) was thrilled and impressed with "Pais Tropical", the modern BOM TEMPO edition, "Agua de Beber" (the ENCANTO version), and "Waters Of March" with its more modern approach also from ENCANTO.
Joe Pizzulo was welcomed as he performed "Never Gonna Let You Go" with Katie Hampton filling in the female role in that one. The crowd seemed to perk up a bit - I don't think people to this day have a clue that that song was a Sergio Mendes record!
Some Brasil '66 era songs were sprinkled through the proceedings like "Fool on The Hill", "Laia Ladaia", "Goin' Out Of My Head" along with a melding of some of those songs with their newer counterparts like "Berimbau/Consolacao", "The Frog", and a little bit of "Surfboard" from TIMELESS.
Two newer songs from MAGIC were performed; "Don't Say Goodbye" had its vocal performed by Joe Pizzulo, while "Sou Eu" was a group effort.
The encore consisted of two songs. "Mas Que Nada" was a hybrid of the Black-eyed Peas-influenced version with the traditional chorus performed by the group - and the crowd. Strains of "Oaria raio, Oba Oba Oba" must have echoed throughout downtown Orlando. And as they say on late-night TV, "But wait, there's more."
Sergio and company continued the love-fest with a rendition of "Tristeza", a party-atmosphere-song from LOOK AROUND that fit the bill nicely and fittingly closed the proceedings down.
Harry