After six years away from Korea, Japanese-Brazilian bossa nova artist Lisa Ono returned to play at the Yongin Women’s Hall last Saturday evening to a packed concert hall.
Ono came out to enthusiastic cheering and applause. Taking her place center-stage on a stool with her nylon-stringed guitar, she and her band (piano, bass, flute/alto saxophone, drums) opened with Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “The Girl from Ipanema”. The nearly two-hour set consisted of popular bossa nova standards, as well as charming renditions of Hank Williams’s “Jambalaya” and Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour”.
Ono ended the evening with touching interpretations of the Korean folk song “Arirang”, Disney’s “It’s a Small World”, and Sergio Mendes’s “Pretty World”.
Ono’s voice and rhythm playing were in excellent form. Fans surely wish her next visit to Korea will be sooner rather than later.