Blame It on Their Bossa Nova : Jazz: Guitarist John Pisano and bassist Jose Marino say that love for Brazilian music keeps Velas going. The groups plays in Orange County this weekend.

The way John Pisano loves Brazilian music, you’d think he was born in Rio de Janeiro instead of Brooklyn.

“When I was playing with Sergio Mendes in Brazil a few years ago,” guitarist Pisano recalls, “people would look at Sergio and point at me and ask, ‘Brasileiro?’ ‘Is he Brazilian?’ My main energy has been into Brazilian stuff for years.”

“John is more Brazilian than I am,” jokes bassist Jose Marino, a native of a small village near Sao Paolo who with Pisano leads Velas, a seven-member ensemble playing tonight and Sunday afternoon at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

Pisano, 60, has also played with Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, with drummer Chico Hamilton and with guitarist Joe Pass. Pisano became infatuated with Brazilian music as a child listening to Carmen Miranda’s Bando Carioca on soundtracks.

His affinity for the music sparked an immediate camaraderie with Marino, now 51, when they met in pianist Joao Donato’s reggae/Brazilian band in Los Angeles in the early ‘70s. Marino (who has played with Milton Nascimento, Walter Wanderly and Guilherme Vergueiro) and Pisano worked together infrequently after that but always kept the idea of starting their own band. Velas--it means “sails” in Portuguese--was born a few years ago.

For a while Velas was very active, playing a couple of nights a week. These days, things are slower. “We’ve been playing about once a month,” Marino says, “and for a while I was really frustrated until I found out that some real big names are having the same hard time. People just aren’t going out that much.”

“It’s been like pulling teeth to get a gig,” Pisano agrees. “The clubs don’t want to pay much, so we have been doing private parties, but they’re pretty sterile. It’s so much more fun to play in front of an audience, with your friends cheering you on.”

No matter where or how infrequently the band plays, Pisano and Marino say they still get a resounding sense of pleasure and satisfaction from Velas. The group’s sambas and bossa novas--most of them original--have a subtle, delicate air, with dulcet melodies in the forefront and a gentle, buoyant rhythmic feel.

“When we do play, it’s special, uplifting,” Pisano says. “The nucleus of the band is still intact, and when the good feeling happens, which usually does when we play, it’s magical.”

“The chemistry is sooooo good, it’s always fun,” Marino adds with a laugh. “Even if we play old stuff, we find a new way to do it so it sounds real nice and refreshing.”

At OCC, Velas will include original members Frank Zottoli on keyboards and Everaldo Ferreira on drums. Guests will include singer Carol Rogers, percussionist Enzo Todesco and Electronic Valve Instrument player Judd Miller.

Miller is “like a real spark--one of these guys where the first thing he plays is the greatest thing you could imagine,” Pisano says. “Regardless of how the music is written or whether he’s seen it before, Judd phrases it as if he’s always been a part of the group.”

Velas plays tonight at 8 and Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Fine Arts Recital Hall at Orange Coast College, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. $9.50 to $12. (714) 432-5880.