Sergio Mendes... Outra Vez... or One More Time!

Sergio Mendes is 73, and his wife, veteran vocalist and former actress Gracinha Leporace is 65, but you couldn't tell from the energy and stamina they projected in their recent 90 minute concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Manila.

The man who introduced and popularized Brazilian music and rhythm in the West..and the Philippines...and the rest of the world...and his wife, who was once mistakenly dismissed as backup to Lani Hall, were a literal and indefatigable live wire of the pulsating, undulating, and mesmerizing music that originated on the beaches of Ipanema and the streets of Rio.

In an hour and a half, he and his relatively younger band and three sultry honey voiced vocalists(including his wife Leporace) played and performed selections from the 60's till the present, in a veritable musical journey that spanned half a century...from original compositions in sensuous Portuguese beginning with the iconic Girl from Ipanema, to Mendes spins on classic hits like Night and Day by Cole Porter, and Fool on the Hill by the Beatles, and even with Bacharach's The Look of Love. Special guest singer silken voiced Joe Pizzulo, with whom Mendes had worked with to produce the mega pop hit Never Gonna Let You Go, was also on hand to help the audience traipse down memory lane.

Sergio Mendes may not have invented bossa nova and samba, but he certainly globalized it. Think Pretty World. He may not have invented the Portuguese language, but his music certainly romanticized it. Words like Mas Que Nada ( More than Nothing), Chove Chuva( Constant Rain), Pais Tropical (Tropical Country or Land). At his age, though he spoke with a twang, he may not have mastered English perfectly, but he certainly jazzed it up with his music. Case in point is the rhythmic cadence of the highly verbal Waters of March.

The inevitable question is what do we call his band now in 2014? When he first appeared, his band was called Brazil '66.  Over the next twenty years, he would come to call them first Brazil '77, and then Brazil '88, to mirror the updates and enhancements on the original Latin sound in those decades. The man who magnified the musical magic of South America to the world continues to marvel and stun people with his ability to keep his music cutting edge and contemporary, and to keep his classic selections still current.  His collaborations with Black Eyed Peas, in a revamp of The Frog and Mas Que Nada, for example, result in rap meeting bossa, and music that appeals not only to the sexy seniors but to the new breed of millennial listeners as well.  On this night in Manila, rapper H2O filled in the mighty shoes of will.i.am.

Unexpected guest in the audience on that Saturday night in November was Philippine President Noynoy Aquino, who was accompanied by a handful of cabinet men and solons, who all got to their feet and shakily swayed to the irresistibly relentless beat of Mas Que Nada, the encore number.

The front act was the iridescent Jacqui Magno, erstwhile top jazz chanteuse, formerly of the legendary Circus band of the 70's, who shimmered despite a bad sound system.  Her jazzed up versions of Tagalog kundimans like Hindi Kita Malimot brought the house down...and with good reason. Her vocal range remains uniquely wide, and she reaches notes no one knows where they're from....

All told it was a pleasant show, a happy blast from the past, featuring music that manages to remain fabulous and still fresh, despite the passage of time