Marisa Monte at The Garden Hall, May 11th 2024
A friend of mine told me he once saw Joao Gilberto here in Tokyo about fifteen, twenty years ago at the Tokyo International Forum Hall. He said that at one point, in the middle of a song he nodded profusely to the point of falling asleep. It’s a funny anecdote. To me, I wouldn’t have minded seeing him taking a nap for a whole show, just to being in the presence of a legend of such stature. The truth is that Japan has a strong committed Brazilian music fan base. Labels like Disk Union have released music from upcoming artists with an impeccable taste and ear for their selection. Just last year young artists like Amaro Freitas, Tim Bernardes and Bala Desejo came to visit. I’ve been lucky enough to see four giants of Brazilian music. Egberto Gismonti (Nana Vasconcelos was scheduled for the concert as well but sadly passed away a couple of months before the show), Hermeto Pascoal, Tom Ze and Caetano Veloso (one of my all-time top 10 concerts). To that list a fifth name is added: Marisa M