To the excitement of bossa and jazz fans across Manila, Ovation Productions brought Sergio Mendes and Brasil 2012 to the Smart Araneta Coliseum last April 24 for a night of music and nostalgia.
The Brazilian music icon has been bringing us his jazzy tunes since his industry debut in the early 60’s, blazing a trail for Bossa Nova musicians everywhere. Known by younger fans for his recently revived hit “Mas Que Nada”, Mendes and his band, Brasil 2012 were a promising choice for Ovation Productions.
The evening was kicked off by local bossa nova singer, Sitti. Her cool melodies were well received by the night’s star-studded audience, comprised of many familiar faces including El Presidente himself.
The coliseum was filled once again with well-mannered excitement from the seated crowd as the band slowly filed onto the stage. The applause and wolf-whistles grew considerably when the Bossa king himself appeared and took a seat at his keyboard.
“Brazilians are very much like Filipinos,” explained Sergio after the first few songs. He shared that both were romantic and music-loving people before easing into the love song “Bridges”. The mellow mood was soon changed by more of their upbeat songs like “One Note Samba” and the smash hit, “Mas Que Nada”. (more…)