Encanto

Brazilian music legend Sergio Mendes spins his remarkable magic on his newest recording, a bona fide classic! This is a kaleidoscopic album that underscores the maestro's ear for addictive melodies, as well as his ability to cast incredibly talented singers and musicians from all over the world
Customer Review: a review for Brasil '66 fans
It's been around 40 years since Mendes reached an artistic and commercial peak with several classic albums that successfully mixed bossa nova, jazz, and pop music. Those albums still sound fresh today, thanks to the terrific songs, latin rhythms and some sparkling arrangements. Since then, Mendes has experimented with mixing his Brazilian sound with folk rock, funk, dance music, hip hop, and on "Encanto," some r&b. As someone who prefers the work he did with Brasil '66 to anything more recent, to my ears the album is pleasant though generally forgettable with the exception of a few wonderful tracks. Unsurprisingly the best tracks are those with strong melodies by Antonio Carlos Jobim, in particular "Somewhere in the Hills" and "Dreamer," both of which are direct descendants of the sound of Brasil '66. "Dreamer" includes both Herb Alpert and Lani Hall, who sounds remarkably like she did when she was fronting Brasil '66. This is a genuinely stunning track and easily the best on the album. Natalie Cole sings "Somewhere in the Hills" which is appropriately jazzy and is one of Jobim's strongest melodies. Other Jobim tracks include "Waters of March" which Mendes has covered several times in the past. It's a singer's song, and sounds a little rhythmically stiff here, as it has in his previous efforts. "Morning in Rio" is also good, with a more Brazilian styled melody and a nice trombone solo. The rest of the CD is listenable, but not such that I ever want to hear most of it again. "The Look of Love" is an unnecessary remake of a good song. What made the original great was a sensational big band arrangement which has been dropped in favor of a hip hop arrangement. I liked the Brazilian styled funk of "Odo-ya" and the mellow "Catavento" with Mendes' wife on lead vocals. On the other hand, "Funky Bahia" and "Lugar Comum," the latter of which features an Italian rapper doing a little snippet of "Volare," are disposable pop/hip hop songs. If I could get into Mendes' head, I would try to convince him do an album of Jobim and Marcos Valle songs with Herb Alpert and Lani Hall and a small jazz/bossa combo. It might not sell a million copies, but it would be an artistic triumph. If you're an unreconstructed fan of Brasil '66 as I am, I can recommend this with reservations. You might be better off just downloading a handful of tracks. But "Dreamer" should not be missed.
Customer Review: Summery and enchanting.
"Encanto" follows the highly acclaimed 2006 collaboration with will.i.am Timeless and with this latest release, Sergio takes us even deeper into Brazil, having recorded all the basic tracks in Rio and Bahia and finally finishing up in in California, where the studio band included Alphonso Johnson. For "Encanto" (in Spanish for Enchantment), Mendes has also enlisted the formidable and enchantingly diverse talents of an array of guest musicians who hail from the world over. Latin superstar Juanes from Colombia and multi-talented Carlinhos Brown & Vanessa da Mata from Brazil jostle alongside the foremost Japanese pop group Dreams Come True, Belgium's Zap Mama and Italian rapper Jovanotti. This international cast is completed by the American stars Fergie, Siedah Garrett and Herb Alpert who is accompanied by his wife, original Brasil '66 singer, Lani Hall. Old smoothie Mendes gets jiggy on a selection of bossa-favourites with a raft of guest stars including the ubiquitous Will.i.am and Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas, Natalie Cole and Herb Alpert et all... This new album essentially is a cross between Mendes' soft, salsa-tinged melodies and modern day R'n'B. The opening track, "The Look of Love" with rap/vocals by Fergie, is a deliciously moreish funky-fusion, and for the first third or so, the combination of Sergio's Rhodes with the hip-hopped production style is terrific. Perhaps this new version of Burt Bacharach's "The Look Of Love", which Mendes had originally transposed to bossa nova heaven in 1967 is the boldest track on "Encanto". This new interpretation, produced by Black Eyed Peas will.i.am, preserves the alluring melody of the original while bringing the song into the new millennium with crisp drum programming and a sexy rap by Fergie. Then it goes all smooth jazz on you. Not bad, though. Whether you are a Sergio Mendes fan especially the earlier stuff, Brasil 66, Equinox, etc or a Black Eyed Peas fan, or indeed R&B then there's something on this album to please everyone. I'd say for such a challenging album there are only a couple of songs that are just to heavy hip hop for me. The rest is a joy to listen to, if you are open minded about remixes and love to see what Sergio has been up to. This album is a grower. The more I listen to it, the better it gets. You will like it. Picks of the album: "The Look of Love", "Waters Of March", "Dreamer", and "Somewhere In The Hills (O Morro Nao Tem Vez)". Equinox Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - Greatest Hits The Very Best of Sergio Mendes & Brazil 66

I want to share some of my reasons for sponsoring New Tang Dynasty Televisions (NTDTV) Chinese New Year Spectacular. Of course, I am Chinese, and the Chinese New Year is part of my tradition and heritage. I love the colorful costumes, beautiful music and dance depicting ancient myths and legends. It reminds me of stories from my childhood. In addition, the cause, the people involved and the performances themselves have touched me profoundly, they have a healing effect in more than one sense.

Most people in the West dont know that traditional Chinese culture has really been destroyed by the communist regime. What people nowadays get in China is very shallow as it has been stripped of all its deeper inner meaning and is laden with communist party culture. So while there are other Chinese New Year Galas, I find that only NTDTV has been able to recreate a New Year celebration that is truly authentic, and at the same time has a charming multicultural flavor. It is performed in dozens of cities around the world, and people everywhere enjoy it tremendously. It contributes to greater harmony and understanding between people and cultures.

Right now Chinese society is in the process of a great transformation as millions of Chinese have quit from the communist party during the past 24 months. China is facing the abolishment of communism and a return to its rich cultural heritage. I believe that the annual NTDTV Chinese New Year Spectacular is promoting the spreading of traditional Chinese culture globally and helps speed up the rebirth of traditional values in Mainland China.

Another reason why I sponsor this event is because there is a spiritually uplifting energy in these wonderful music performances. It is actually a healing energy. I am a doctor of Oriental Medicine and also have a western degree in Neuroscience. I practice vibrational energy medicine as my profession, and I am very sensitive to healing vibrations. The pure energy produced during these shows is very powerful. During the entire show, I find my mind, body and soul are deeply resonating with the music waves. I realized that this is not just a show for entertainment, it goes way beyond ordinary art performances.

In my practice I am seeing increasing numbers of people suffering from different kinds of mental and physical problems. I believe they are a result of our fast-moving, competitive, materialistic, and stressful lifestyle which causes imbalances in the autonomic nervous systems and blocking mental, physical and emotional energy pathways. Many people, including teenagers, listen to noisy, meaningless and mind-disturbing music, which I feel are also contributing to psychological problems including ADD/ADHD, depression, anxiety, and more. Many studies indicate that mental stress and negative emotions can cause physical diseases. This is already a common reality today.

One of the treatment modalities in my practice is sound therapy. It involves a complex process of playing certain sounds and frequencies to a patient and monitoring their brain activity to determine what is most harmonious and beneficial in changing their condition. Many patients, including stroke victims, have responded extremely well and recovered from a variety of serious problems using sound therapy.

From my many years of working with sound and music I can tell what kinds of sound and music promote healing and well-being. I found that the NTDTV performances have such an effect. I have shared the DVD of last years show with many friends and patients as well.

I plan to close my office on January 9th and take my family to the Los Angeles show at the Kodak Theater. I hope you can see it at a theater near your home. Enjoy the Chinese New Year at its best and have a healing experience! http://shows.ntdtv.com

Jason Liu has a PhD and MD degree in Chinese and Western Medicine. He has a private practice in San Diego, CA. http://shows.ntdtv.comhttp://www.ntdtv.com

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