Hollywood Bowl marks 40 years of Brasil ’66

It wouldn’t really be a summer world music series at the Hollywood Bowl without at least one event dedicated to the music of Brazil. And the 2006 installment of KCRW-FM’s World Festival got down to business Sunday night with a kickoff program dedicated to Sergio Mendes’ 40th anniversary celebration of Brasil ’66.

There have been numerous installments of that classic group over the past 40 years, but the essential elements remain the same: a pair of female singers performing for the most part in unison; Mendes’ spirited keyboard work; and a surging, samba-tinged rhythm section rich with the percussion sounds of carnival.

Mendes didn’t do much instrumentally to alter the winning formula on Sunday, with vocals from his wife, Gracinha Leporace, and Dawn Bishop, and invigorating rhythms from the band -- especially guitarist Kleber Jorge and percussionist Meia Noite.

When Bishop was temporarily replaced by Lani Hall, one of the original Brasil ’66 singers, and when her husband, Herb Alpert -- whose A&M; Records released the group’s first albums -- added his warm-toned trumpet to the ensemble, 40 years disappeared without a trace.

As he has done over the past few decades, Mendes continues his efforts to keep his band in touch with contemporary styles in the latest recording, “Timeless.” And the balance of the show drew heavily from the CD’s bossa-nova-meets-urban theme via guest performances by India.Arie (“Timeless”), John Legend (“Please Baby Don’t”), Q-Tip (“The Frog”) and Joe Pizzulo (“Never Gonna Let You Go”).

But the updating was pushed to the point of negative return when rapper Krishna Booker’s rhyming on “Mas Que Nada” -- though humorous and well-intended -- altered the spirit, the subtlety and the rhythm of the signature Brasil ’66 song. The transformation wasn’t surprising, however, since it was a live replica of the interpretation done by the Black Eyed Peas -- on the new album.

Earlier in the show, the Brazilian rap group Marcelo D2 played a set that was almost completely devoid of Brazilian roots, rhyming in rhythm while using every mannerism and gesture of an American rap ensemble. Their abandonment of heritage was countered by a performance from the four guitarists of the Maogani Quartet that managed to be appealing without resorting to a single enhancement from American pop music.