Jazz Reviews : Swing and Sway the Sergio Mendes Way

All that’s left of the latest wave of Brazilian music that has swept the United States in the last few years is the commercial backwash. Witness recent albums by Djavan and Ivan Lins, whose Brazilian roots seem to have been more affected by American pop music than the other way around.

That’s why it was refreshing to hear Sergio Mendes and his latest group, Brazil 99, play to a near-capacity Strand Supper and Dance Club Thursday night. Over his long career, Mendes has never presented himself as anything but a pop artist. One of the first musicians to introduce Brazilian rhythms and lyricism to Top 40 charts, Mendes has nevertheless not forgotten the source of his success.

Mendes makes no bones about giving in to the temptations of the pop/rock allure. The latest edition of his band is orchestrated with electric bass and guitar, and his synth and electric piano are supplemented by an additional rack of electronic keyboards manned by Steve Bach.

But the majority of the tunes that he and the group performed, and certainly those that met with the greatest reception, were heavily flavored with Brazilian touches: percussive play, swaying samba rhythms and the beautiful sounds of the Portuguese language.

The success of the various Mendes editions has always rested with the strength of his vocalists, and he was well-represented this night. Singers Angie Jaree, Kevyn Lettau and Mendes’ wife, Gracinha Mendes, provided smooth, lyrical sensuousness, whether singing in unison or exchanging solo lines in English and Portuguese.

Mendes’ brief keyboard breaks were played with passion and brief displays of agility, but were so short they added little to the overall mood. The guitar of Dori Caymmi, a Brazilian star in his own right, was, for the most part, buried under the mix.

The attractiveness of this music is its danceability, and by the end of the set the audience was swinging and swaying. The dinner tables were removed from the dance floor for the second set and then the real party began.

Mendes will appear tonight at the Ventura Concert Theatre.