Minas Reimagines Beatles In Bossa

14 handpicked Lennon-McCartney and Harrison favorites filtered through the Prism of Brazil

Minas reimagines Beatles In Bossa. Today is ‘launch day’ for their new album, inspired and released by popular demand.

by Scott Adams

Let’s catch up with Orlando and Patricia Haddad, co-leaders of the Philadelphia-based group, Minas. Today marks their 8^th recording since they formed Minas in 1978.

Under their leadership, Minas has grown to become one of the most popular Brazilian American concert and performance groups in the region.

In fact, that’s where the idea for this recording came from, during a concert at Philly’s World Café Live! in November 2017.

“It was for our first Beatles In Bossa show,” recalls Orlando. “The concert was sold-out, and the audience loved everything about it. The songs, our arrangements, and the musicians. Afterward, fans asked for the album! The response was so impressive that Patricia and I got to work on the album soon after that.”

More shows followed and Minas kept audiences informed every step of the way. Even throughout the pandemic. Fan interest in the album continued to grow.

Listen to the official debut of the new Beatles In Bossa album by Minas on Connect Brazil’s streaming station. Click here to listen live.

Brazilian Style Reimagines Beatles In Bossa

Minas brings a fresh approach to each of these Beatles classics. Each song benefits from the arrangements used for that first concert four years ago. Here, jazz meets up with Minas’s distinctly Brazilian sound. Bossa Nova, Choro, Samba, and other styles act as a musical prism for these songs we know so well.

Early reviews take note of the unique arrangements and musicianship.

Raul da Gama of thatcanadianmagazine.com is one of the first. Beatles In Bossa is “infused with a fresh sense of mystery,” he writes. “‘Within You, Without You’ is turned into a swirling capoeira without ever losing its droning Indian groove. The berimbau adds magical flavour when whirling around the soprano saxophone, just like two capoeira contestants.”

Now, Beatles In Bossa is offered as a 70-minute CD and as a double vinyl album.

MUSIC, TRAVEL, FRIENDS AND FUN! 2022 MARKS CONNECT BRAZIL’S 25TH YEAR.