High-Energy Music Ignites Brazilian Summer Fest ’96

High-spirited musical energy was the order of the day at the opening performance of the Brazilian Summer Festival ’96 on Saturday at the John Anson Ford Theatre.

Appropriately, the capacity crowd’s revelry hit its peak in a climactic number by Josias & Sambrasil, a roaring samba that brought more than 100 fans to the stage to join the G-stringed, feathered dancers in a hip-swinging, foot-tapping dance.

But the samba dancers, Brazilian food and a colorful performance by the Cheremoya Children’s Samba School represented only one part of an evening--subtitled “A Day in Rio”--that also included other appealing examples of the breadth and the reach of Brazilian music.

The Rique Pantoja Sextet--in a tribute to composer and musician Moacir Santos--presented a program beautifully blending the subtle, complex rhythms of Brazil with the soaring improvisations of jazz. Trumpeter Jeff Elliot and saxophonist Steve Tavaglione navigated their way through the compelling, and often unusual, rhythms of tunes by Santos and Pantoja.

Claudia Villela, in her Los Angeles debut, revealed a voice with striking range and flexibility. Some of her original numbers, filled with highly vocalized scat-type expressions, suggested an influence from her study with jazz singer Sheila Jordan; others were clearly the articulation of her own considerable, if still evolving talent. Villela’s sole problem was a kind of off-putting coolness that tended to make her vocal excursions seem more like virtuosic displays than efforts at emotional communication.

Sunday’s program--”A Day in Bahia”--was scheduled to feature repeat appearances by the Pantoja ensemble and the Children’s Samba School, with added performances by Meia Noite and Lula & Afro Brazil.