Sergio Mendes, 83, Dies; Brought Brazilian Rhythms to the Pop Charts
A pianist, composer and arranger, he rose to fame with the group Brasil ’66 and remained a force in popular music for more than six decades.
Sergio Mendes, the Brazilian-born pianist, composer and arranger who brought bossa nova music to a global audience in the 1960s through his ensemble, Brasil ’66, and remained a force in popular music for more than six decades, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 83.
His family said in a statement that his death, in a hospital, was caused by long Covid.
Mr. Mendes released more than 30 albums, won three Grammys and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2012 for best original song (as co-writer of “Real in Rio,” from the animated film “Rio”).
His career in America took flight in 1966 with Brasil ’66 and the single “Mas Que Nada,” written by the Brazilian singer-songwriter Jorge Ben. The Mendes sound was deceptively sophisticated rhythmically but gentle on the ears, suavely amplifying the original guitar-centered murmur of bossa nova with expansive keyboard-driven arrangements and cooing vocal lines that usually included Mr. Mendes himself chiming in alongside a front line of two female singers.
The group’s lilting, sensual pulse came to embody an adult contemporary cool in the 1960s that contrasted pointedly with the ascendant youth culture dominating the pop charts in the wake of the Beatles.
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“It was completely different from anything, and definitely completely different from rock ’n’ roll,” the Latin music scholar Leila Cobo observed in the 2020 HBO documentary “Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy.” “But that speaks to how certain Sergio was of that sound. He didn’t try to imitate what was going on.”
After venturing to the United States for the first time in 1962 to perform at a bossa nova concert at Carnegie Hall on a bill with many of the music’s innovators — including his mentor, the composer Antonio Carlos Jobim — Mr. Mendes ultimately returned to Brazil, only to flee in 1964 in the wake of a violent military coup that witnessed his own brief arrest.
He then recorded and toured America with a new ensemble, Brasil ’65, but he was generating only tepid audience response when the other members of his band decided to head home to Brazil. Mr. Mendes stayed behind; he wanted to try one more time for American success.
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His last gig with the group was in Chicago at a club called Mother Blues. In the HBO documentary, he recalled coming through the doors that night and seeing a young woman onstage playing the guitar and singing. “Wow, what an incredible voice,” he remembered thinking. “Very different.” He introduced himself to her, learned that her name was Lani Hall, and invited her to become the lead singer of his new group. “Well,” she said, “you’ll have to ask my father.” Ms. Hall was 19 at the time.
After securing her father’s reluctant permission, Ms. Hall flew with Mr. Mendes to Los Angeles and went to work. Mr. Mendes later brought in a second singer, the Brazilian-born Bibi Vogel. “When I heard the two girls singing together,” he said, “I thought, ‘Man, I really like this sound.’ The more we rehearsed, the more I thought, ‘This is so good!’”
The group, newly named Brasil ’66, made its debut at a resort in the Bahamas — and was paid to stop playing by the management after patrons complained that they could not dance to their music.
A chastened Mr. Mendes brought the band back to Los Angeles. Almost immediately, he received an invitation to audition Brasil ’66 for the trumpeter Herb Alpert’s new record label, A&M. Mr. Alpert signed them on the spot. The album that ensued, “Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66,” quickly went gold on the strength of “Mas Que Nada” and other tracks that would become staples of the band’s repertoire, including “Going Out of My Head,” and “One-Note Samba.”
In 2011, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
“Their sound was captivating,” Mr. Alpert reflected in the documentary, “a hybrid of Brazilian music, a little bit of jazz, folk, African, blues. It had all of those elements. And then, to top it off, it had this fabulous singer, Lani Hall. I just fell in love with the sound. It was very, very, unusually special.”
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Sergio Santos Mendes was born in Niterói, Brazil, on Feb. 11, 1941, the son of a physician. Diagnosed with osteomyelitis, an inflammation of bone tissue, when he was 3, he spent the next three years in a cast until his father was able to obtain the newly discovered “wonder drug,” penicillin, for him. Young Sergio became one of the first to take it in Brazil, and he was cured.
Still prohibited from physical recreation, he was given a piano and music lessons by his mother, which led to studies at the Conservatory of Music in Niterói, across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro. One afternoon in 1956, at a friend’s house, he heard the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s record “Take Five” and was smitten with jazz.
He began playing with a local dance band at 17, and he continued to play jazz in every sort of venue around Niterói before finally venturing across the bay to Rio by ferry, to substitute for a friend at a new club, Bottles Bar, in the city’s infamous Flying Bottles Lane, a strip of tiny nightclubs in the Copacabana entertainment district that was known for its rough crowds but was also where some of the best bossa nova could be heard.
Audiences at a nearby club, Lojas Murray, sometimes took up collections to pay young Sergio’s ferry fare home. Soon he was hosting influential Sunday afternoon jam sessions at another Bottles Lane venue, the Little Club. This led to the formation of the Bossa Rio Sextet, a jazz unit that very quickly became popular across Brazil and recorded the album “Você Ainda Não Iuviu Nada!” (“You Haven’t Heard Anything Yet!”), released in 1962. With arrangements by Mr. Jobim and Mr. Mendes, it was one of the first albums to mix bossa nova with a jazz ensemble.
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In November of that year, both men went to the U.S. for the first time to perform at Carnegie Hall. The next night, at Birdland, New York’s pre-eminent jazz club, Mr. Mendes met the celebrated alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, who invited him to stick around and not go right back to Brazil so that they could record together. The resulting album, “Cannonball’s Bossa Nova” released in 1963 brought Mr. Mendes to the attention of Nesuhi Ertegun, vice president in charge of jazz at Atlantic Records, who signed Mr. Mendes to a contract and produced his first American release under his own name, “The Swinger From Rio,” recorded in late 1964 and released in 1966.
The subsequent signing of Brasil ’66 with A&M left a contractual tangle that Mr. Ertegun equably resolved by retaining rights to Mr. Mendes’s instrumental records only. Of the dozen or so albums Mr. Mendes went on to make with Brasil ’66 for A&M, from 1966 to 1972, nearly all went gold or platinum. The title track of the group’s biggest seller, their version of the Beatles’ “The Fool on the Hill,” released in 1968, sold four million copies as a single. Mr. Mendes later received a letter from Paul McCartney thanking him for his arrangement of the song.
That same year, an appearance on the Academy Awards broadcast performing Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “The Look of Love” boosted Mr. Mendes and Brasil ’66 to international attention. Ms. Hall left the band in 1970, having fallen in love with Mr. Alpert, whom she would marry three years later.
Mr. Mendes continued to record, with and without his ensemble, for more than 50 years. He performed at the White House, toured with Frank Sinatra and, after a late-1970s lull, scored a Top 10 hit in 1983 with “Never Gonna Let You Go,” a pop song written by Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann and sung on Mr. Mendes’s recording by Joe Pizzulo and Leeza Miller. He also reconnected with Lani Hall that year, acting as producer of her vocals on the title song for the James Bond film “Never Say Never Again.”
Finding himself dismissed in the 1990s as a relic who had made “elevator music” in the 1960s, Mr. Mendes returned to his Brazilian roots with the 1992 album “Brasileiro,” which won a Grammy for best world music album. In the 21st century, he reignited his career once more through collaborations with a host of young artists, including the Black Eyed Peas, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, India.Arie, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Q-Tip and Pharrell Williams.
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Mr. Mendes received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2005 and won another competitive Grammy in 2010 for the album “Bom Tempo” as best Brazilian contemporary pop album — a category he himself had virtually invented.
Mr. Mendes is survived by his wife of 50 years, Gracinha Leporace, who had replaced Lani Hall in Brazil ’66; their two children, Tiago and Gustavo; three children from a first marriage that ended in divorce: Bernardo, Rodrigo and Isabella; and seven grandchildren.
Mr. Mendes could never escape the limpid allure of his Brasil ’66 sound — nor did he ever try to — but his long recording career was a journey of exploration. “He doesn’t go backward,” Ms. Hall once insisted, in summing him up. “He goes forward. All the time.”
Describing his music, Mr. Mendes once said: “The word is ‘joy.’ ‘Alegria.’ The next party. I’m ready.”
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Sérgio Santos Mendes (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈsɛʁʒju ˈsɐ̃tuz ˈmẽdʒis]; February 11, 1941 – September 5, 2024) was a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his band Brasil '66. He had over 55 releases and was known for playing bossa nova, often crossed with funk. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2012 as co-writer of the song "Real in Rio" from the animated film Rio.
Mendes was primarily known in the United States, where his albums were recorded and where most of his touring took place. He was married to Gracinha Leporace, who performed with him from the early 1970s. Mendes collaborated with many artists, including the Black Eyed Peas, with whom he re-recorded in 2006 a version of his 1966 breakthrough hit "Mas que Nada".
Biography
[edit]Early career
[edit]Mendes was born in Niterói, Brazil to the east across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro on February 11, 1941,[1] the son of a physician. As he relates in In the Key of Joy, a biopic about his career, he had to wear a cast for three years due to having osteomyelitis. He was one of the first people in Brazil to receive penicillian due to his father being a doctor.[2] Sergio attended the local conservatory with hopes of becoming a classical pianist. As his interest in jazz grew, he started playing in nightclubs in the late 1950s just as bossa nova, a jazz-inflected derivative of samba, was emerging.
Sergio Mendes played with Antônio Carlos Jobim (regarded as a mentor) and many U.S. jazz musicians who toured Brazil. Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded Dance Moderno in 1961. Touring Europe and the United States, Mendes recorded albums with Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann and played at the Carnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and cut two albums under the group name Sergio Mendes & Brasil '65 with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records.[1]
Mendes became full partners with Richard Adler, a Brooklyn-born American who had previously brought Bossa Trés plus two dancers, Joe Bennett and a Brazilian partner, to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1963. He was accompanied by Jobim; Flavio Ramos, and Aloísio de Oliveira, a record and TV producer from Rio who used to be a member of Carmen Miranda's backing group Bando da Lua. The Musicians Union only allowed this group to appear on one TV show and make one club appearance (Basin Street East) before ordering them to leave the U.S. When the new group Brasil '65 was formed, Shelly Manne, Bud Shank and other West Coast musicians got Mendes and the others into the local musicians union. Adler and Mendes formed Brasil '65, which consisted of Wanda Sá and Rosinha de Valença, as well as the Sergio Mendes Trio. The group recorded albums for Atlantic and Capitol.
Brasil '66
[edit]
All of Mendes' jazz albums for Atlantic Records, through Nesuhi and Ahmet Ertegun, had low sales. Richard Adler suggested that Mendes and the group sing in English, as well as Portuguese as Mendes had demanded, and Adler sought new English-based material such as "Goin' Out of My Head" by Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein. In order to sing these songs properly in English, Adler suggested that the group find two American female singers to sing in both English and Portuguese. Adler called his friend Jerry Dennon and A&M Records founders Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, and arranged for an audition for Mendes' new group, which was dubbed "Brasil '66.'" Alpert and Moss signed Mendes and his group to A&M Records.[1] Adler then went to the Ertegun Brothers at Atlantic Records and sought to have them release Mendes from his Atlantic Jazz contract. Ahmet agreed to allow him to record albums under the name "Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66" with A&M. Mendes was not at this meeting, only Adler and Ahmet Ertegun. Alpert took over as producer for the A&M albums, and the group became a huge success with their first single, "Mas que Nada", by writer Jorge Ben.
The first album on A&M was Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, an album that went platinum based largely on the success of the single "Mas que Nada" (a Jorge Ben cover) and the personal support of Alpert, with whom Mendes toured. The original lineup of Brasil '66 was Mendes (piano), vocalists Lani Hall (later Alpert's wife) and Sylvia Dulce Kleiner (Bibi Vogel) (1942–2004), Bob Matthews (1935–2022) (bass), José Soares (percussion) and João Palma (1943–2016) (drums). John Pisano (1931–2024) played guitar. The new lineup recorded two albums between 1966 and 1968 (including the best-selling Look Around LP), before a major personnel change for its fourth album Fool on the Hill.[3]
Mendes often changed the lineup. Vocalist Kleiner (Bibi Vogel) was replaced by Janis Hansen, who in turn was replaced by Karen Philipp. Veteran drummer Dom Um Romão teamed with Rubens Bassini to assume percussionist duties. Claudio Slon joined the group as drummer in 1969 and went on to play with Mendes for nearly a decade. Sebastião Neto took over on bass and Oscar Castro-Neves took on guitar. The changes gave the group a more orchestral sound than before. In the early 1970s, lead singer Hall pursued a solo career and became Alpert's second wife.[3] Some accounts claim that Mendes was upset with Alpert for years for "stealing" Hall away from his group.[citation needed] Kevyn Lettau sang and toured with Mendez for 8 years after being discovered by him in 1984.
Though his early singles with Brasil '66 (most notably "Mas que Nada") met with some success, Mendes really burst into mainstream prominence when he performed the Oscar-nominated "The Look of Love" on the Academy Awards telecast in April 1968. Brasil '66's version of the song quickly shot into the top 10,[1] peaking at No. 4[4] and eclipsing Dusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of the movie Casino Royale. Mendes spent the rest of 1968 enjoying consecutive top 10 and top 20 hits with his follow-up singles "The Fool on the Hill" and "Scarborough Fair".[1][failed verification] From 1968 on, Mendes was arguably the biggest Brazilian star in the world[3] and enjoyed immense popularity worldwide, performing in venues as varied as stadium arenas and the White House, where he gave concerts for presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.[3] The Brasil '66 group appeared at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan in June 1970.
Renewed success
[edit]Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled in the mid-1970s, but he remained popular in South America and Japan. On his two albums with Bell Records in 1973 and 1974 followed by several for Elektra from 1975 on such as "Brasil '88", Mendes continued to mine the best in American pop music and post-bossa writers of his native Brazil, while forging new directions in soul with collaborators like Stevie Wonder, who wrote Mendes' R&B-inflected minor hit "The Real Thing".
In 1983, he rejoined Alpert's A&M records and enjoyed success with a self-titled album and several follow-up albums, all of which received considerable adult contemporary airplay with charting singles. "Never Gonna Let You Go", featuring vocals by Joe Pizzulo and Leeza Miller,[1] equalled the success of his 1968 single "The Look of Love" by reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; it also spent four weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart.[4] In 1984, he recorded the Confetti album, which had the hit songs "Olympia", which was also used as a theme song for the Olympic Games that year, and "Alibis" which reached #5 on the A/C chart and #29 on the Hot 100.[1] In the 1980s Mendes also worked with singer Lani Hall again on the song "No Place to Hide" from the Brasil '86 album as well as on the production of her vocals on the title song for the James Bond film Never Say Never Again.
By the time Mendes released his Grammy-winning Elektra album Brasileiro in 1992, he was the undisputed master of pop-inflected Brazilian jazz. The late-1990s lounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' oeuvre, particularly the classic Brasil '66 albums.
Later career
[edit]
Timeless features a wide array of neo-soul and alternative hip hop guest artists, including the Black Eyed Peas, Erykah Badu, Black Thought, Jill Scott, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, India.Arie, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Q-Tip, Stevie Wonder and Pharoahe Monch. It was released February 14, 2006, by Concord Records.[3]
The 2006 re-recorded version of "Mas que Nada" with the Black Eyed Peas had additional vocals by Gracinha Leporace (Mendes' wife); this version is included on Timeless. In Brazil, the song is also well known for being the theme song for the local television channel Globo's Estrelas. The Black Eyed Peas' version contains a sample of their 2004 hit "Hey Mama". The re-recorded song became popular on many European charts. On the UK Singles Chart, the song entered at No. 29 and peaked at No. 6 on its second week on the chart.
In 2013 he made an appearance dancing along for one of the segments Pharrell Williams' "24 Hours of Happy."[5] In 2012 Mendes was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song as co-writer of the song "Real in Rio" from the animated film Rio.[6] He was the co-producer on the soundtrack albums for two animated films about his homeland: 2011's Rio and its 2014 sequel.[citation needed] He was the subject of the 2020 documentary Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy.[2] He gave his final performances in November 2023.[7]
He had over 55 releases and was known for playing bossa nova, often crossed with funk.[3]
Death
[edit]Mendes died from complications of long COVID at a hospital in Los Angeles on September 5, 2024, at the age of 83.[2][8]
Discography
[edit]- 1961: Dance Moderno (Philips)
- 1962: Cannonball's Bossa Nova (Riverside/Capitol Records)
- 1963: Você Ainda Não Ouviu Nada! (a.k.a., The Beat of Brazil) (Philips)
- 1964: The Swinger from Rio (a.k.a., Bossa Nova York) (Atlantic)
- 1965: In Person at El Matador (Atlantic)
- 1965: Brasil '65 (a.k.a. In The Brazilian Bag) (Capitol)
- 1965: The Great Arrival (Atlantic)
- 1966: Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (A&M)
- 1967: Equinox (A&M)
- 1967: Quiet Nights (Philips)
- 1967: Look Around (A&M)
- 1968: Fool on the Hill (A&M)
- 1968: Sérgio Mendes' Favorite Things (Atlantic)
- 1969: Crystal Illusions (A&M)
- 1969: Ye-Me-Lê (A&M)
- 1969: The Story of... Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '77 (a.k.a., Italia - Brazil, A&M)
- 1970: Live at Expo '70 (unreleased in the US, A&M)
- 1970: Stillness (A&M)
- 1971: País Tropical (A&M)
- 1971: Giorno (A&M)
- 1972: Four Sider (A&M, double compilation album)
- 1972: Primal Roots (a.k.a., Raízes - Brazil) (A&M)
- 1973: Love Music (Bell)
- 1974: Vintage 74 (Bell)
- 1975: Sérgio Mendes (a.k.a., I Believe - Brazil) (Elektra)
- 1976: Homecooking (Elektra)
- 1977: Sergio Mendes and the New Brasil '77 (Elektra)
- 1977: Pelé (Atlantic)
- 1978: Brasil '88 (Elektra)
- 1979: Alegria (a.k.a., Horizonte Aberto - Brazil) (WEA)
- 1979: Magic Lady (Elektra)
- 1980: The Beat of Brazil (Atlantic)
- 1983: Sérgio Mendes (A&M)
- 1984: Confetti (A&M)
- 1986: Brasil '86 (A&M)
- 1989: Arara (A&M)
- 1992: Brasileiro (Elektra)
- 1996: Oceano (Verve)
- 1999: Matrix (Concord)
- 2006: Timeless (Concord)
- 2007: Encanto (Concord)
- 2009: Bom Tempo (Concord)
- 2014: Magic (Okeh)
- 2020: In the Key of Joy (Concord)
Awards
[edit]| Year | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Best Original Song | "Real in Rio" | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Recipient | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals | The Fool on the Hill | Nominated |
| 1993 | Best World Music Album | Brasileiro | Won |
| 2007 | Best Urban/Alternative Performance | "Mas que Nada" featuring Black Eyed Peas | Nominated |
| "That Heat" featuring Erykah Badu and will.i.am | Nominated | ||
| 2011 | Best Contemporary World Music Album | Bom tempo | Nominated |
| 2015 | Best World Music Album | Magic | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Recipient | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Himself | Won |
| 2006 | Record of the Year | "Mas que Nada" featuring Black Eyed Peas | Nominated |
| Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album | Timeless | Nominated | |
| 2008 | Best Brazilian Song | "Acode" featuring Vanessa da Mata | Nominated |
| 2010 | Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album | Bom Tempo | Won |
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See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Larkin, Colin (1997). "Mendes, Sergio". The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music. London: Virgin in association with Muze. p. 850. ISBN 978-1-85227-745-1. OCLC 925311730 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b c Singer, Barry (September 6, 2024). "Sergio Mendes, 83, Dies; Brought Brazilian Rhythms to the U.S. Pop Charts". The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|access date=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) Cite error: The named reference "Singer" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ a b c d e f Eder, Bruce. "Sergio Mendes Biography" at AllMusic
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
- ^ "Robert's Ultimate Guide to all 24 hours of Pharrell Williams' Happy Video". Imaginaryplanet.net. March 2, 2014. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ "The 84th Academy Awards | 2012". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 7, 2014. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ^ Amorosi, A. D. (September 6, 2024). "Sergio Mendes, Brazilian Bossa Nova Music Innovator, Dies at 83". Variety. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ Evans, Greg (September 6, 2024). "Sérgio Mendes Dies: Brazilian Pop Pioneer, Hitmaker & Herb Alpert Collaborator Was 83". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
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Sergio Mendes: 10 Essential Songs
The bandleader and musician, who died on Thursday at 83, was a bridge from Brazilian music to the world — and back.
Sergio Mendes earned a lasting place in international pop as a conduit between Brazilian music and the wider world. He had the genial stage presence, arranging skills and musical standards of an expert bandleader. He also had the A&R savvy and crossover instincts to latch onto potential hits and collaborate with musicians across multiple generations.
Mendes carried songs from Brazil’s master songwriters — among them Antonio Carlos Jobim, Jorge Ben Jor and Carlinhos Brown — to listeners worldwide, often in English translations. He also found American and British songs that could dovetail with Brazilian rhythms. His music chose suaveness over bite, and it sometimes shaded into slick easy listening or sought an over-processed American pop sheen. Yet while he spent much of his career living in the United States, his foundations in Brazilian music stayed strong.
Here, in chronological order, are 10 worthwhile songs from Sergio Mendes’s huge catalog. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music (or via YouTube links on each song title).
Sergio Mendes, ‘Oba-là-là’ (1961)
Mendes thought he was headed for a career in jazz on his 1961 debut album, “Dance Moderno,” which mingled Brazilian songs and American jazz standards. It opens with “Oba-là-là” by João Gilberto, an upbeat bossa nova with Mendes’s piano plinking out crisp chords and a zigzagging solo.
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Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, ‘Mas Que Nada’ (1966)
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 was the lineup that would bring Mendes hits through the 1960s, with women’s voices carried by breezy Brazilian rhythms. The band’s international breakthrough featured the irresistible melody of the Ben Jor song “Mas Que Nada.” The song’s lyrics, in Portuguese, praise the deep Afro-Brazilian tradition of samba. But Mendes’s finger-snapping version, with Lani Hall’s lead vocals, also uses thick, bluesy piano chords to add a touch of Nuyorican boogaloo. He remade the song repeatedly through the decades — all the way up to an EDM update this year — but his first one endures.
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, ‘Constant Rain’ (1967)
Another Ben Jor song, originally “Chove Chuva,” got English lyrics from Norman Gimbel, turning a prayer into a post-breakup lament. The bossa nova takes on hearty handclaps and a vintage 1967 touch: The instrumental hook flaunts a sitar.
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, ‘The Fool on the Hill’ (1968)
Brasil ’66 transformed — and lightened up — the pensive Beatles song from “Magical Mystery Tour” about a lone, unheeded sage. Mendes’s version brought in waltzing verses, a bossa nova chorus, a cushiony orchestral arrangement, a new countermelody and smiley, nonchalant vocals — and scored a Grammy-winning, international hit.
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, ‘Viramundo’ (1970)
Mendes recorded Gilberto Gil’s “Viramundo” (“Wanderer”), a song that revels in being a perpetually traveling outsider, while Gil was in exile from the military dictatorship in Brazil. With Brasil ’66, Mendes turned it into a percussive samba parade, busy with triangle and cowbell, and topped by call-and-response women’s voices.
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Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77, ‘País Tropical’ (1971)
This party-hearty version of Ben Jor’s “País Tropical” flaunts the anything-goes spirit of Brazilian tropicália. Mendes’s two-fisted piano, a horn section and very loose tambourine playing hint at gospel and soul, while there’s some wah-wah psychedelia in the guitar. Meanwhile, the singers sound like they might burst into laughter at any moment.
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77, ‘Promise of a Fisherman (Promessa de Pescador)’ (1972)
Mendes briefly turned away from American pop crossover efforts to touch down in Brazilian music with his album “Primal Roots.” In “Promise of a Fisherman (Promessa de Pescador),” he seeks out the mystical core of a song by Dorival Caymmi, using only its chorus. It begins with eerie whistling, followed by a stark processional chant for percussion and women’s voices that invokes Iemanja, the Yoruban-Brazilian deity of the sea; churchy organ chords affirm that it’s a ritual.
Sergio Mendes, ‘Magalenha’ (1992)
On his album “Brasileiro,” Mendes once more returned triumphantly to Brazilian music (and won a Grammy Award for world music). He teamed up with the brilliant Bahian songwriter and producer Carlinhos Brown for Brown’s song “Magalenha,” which pays tribute to Afro-Brazilian women’s work and the joys of a day in the sun. It’s all percussion and voices, with Brown’s lead vocals answered by a whooping (yet precise) backup chorus over a swaggering sambareggae beat.
Sergio Mendes featuring India.Arie, ‘Timeless’ (2006)
The “Timeless” album was Mendes’s bridge to hip-hop and neo-soul, produced by Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas with guests including Erykah Badu and Q-Tip. It included a hip-hop remake of “Mas Que Nada.” But the update is less forced in “Timeless,” written by Mendes and sung by India.Arie. It’s a pop bossa nova with jazzy chord changes and benevolent lyrics. Mendes’s electric piano offers easygoing, darting counterpoint as India.Arie insists “Kindness is timeless/Love is so easy to give.”
Sergio Mendes featuring Nayanna Holley and Carlinhos Brown, ‘Emorio’ (2010)
Reunited with Brown, Mendes reworked a song from the 1980s written by João Donato and Gil, with new lyrics in English sung by a high-flying Nayanna Holley and a little rapping in Portuguese from Brown. It merges funk and samba, tosses in bits of Brazilian standards (including “Mas Que Nada”) and lets Mendes slip in some modern-jazz piano improvisations and key changes before returning to the euphoric chorus.
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Sergio Mendes: 10 Essential Songs
The bandleader and musician, who died on Thursday at 83, was a bridge from Brazilian music to the world — and back.
Sergio Mendes earned a lasting place in international pop as a conduit between Brazilian music and the wider world. He had the genial stage presence, arranging skills and musical standards of an expert bandleader. He also had the A&R savvy and crossover instincts to latch onto potential hits and collaborate with musicians across multiple generations.
Mendes carried songs from Brazil’s master songwriters — among them Antonio Carlos Jobim, Jorge Ben Jor and Carlinhos Brown — to listeners worldwide, often in English translations. He also found American and British songs that could dovetail with Brazilian rhythms. His music chose suaveness over bite, and it sometimes shaded into slick easy listening or sought an over-processed American pop sheen. Yet while he spent much of his career living in the United States, his foundations in Brazilian music stayed strong.
Here, in chronological order, are 10 worthwhile songs from Sergio Mendes’s huge catalog. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music (or via YouTube links on each song title).
Sergio Mendes, ‘Oba-là-là’ (1961)
Mendes thought he was headed for a career in jazz on his 1961 debut album, “Dance Moderno,” which mingled Brazilian songs and American jazz standards. It opens with “Oba-là-là” by João Gilberto, an upbeat bossa nova with Mendes’s piano plinking out crisp chords and a zigzagging solo.
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Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, ‘Mas Que Nada’ (1966)
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 was the lineup that would bring Mendes hits through the 1960s, with women’s voices carried by breezy Brazilian rhythms. The band’s international breakthrough featured the irresistible melody of the Ben Jor song “Mas Que Nada.” The song’s lyrics, in Portuguese, praise the deep Afro-Brazilian tradition of samba. But Mendes’s finger-snapping version, with Lani Hall’s lead vocals, also uses thick, bluesy piano chords to add a touch of Nuyorican boogaloo. He remade the song repeatedly through the decades — all the way up to an EDM update this year — but his first one endures.
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, ‘Constant Rain’ (1967)
Another Ben Jor song, originally “Chove Chuva,” got English lyrics from Norman Gimbel, turning a prayer into a post-breakup lament. The bossa nova takes on hearty handclaps and a vintage 1967 touch: The instrumental hook flaunts a sitar.
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, ‘The Fool on the Hill’ (1968)
Brasil ’66 transformed — and lightened up — the pensive Beatles song from “Magical Mystery Tour” about a lone, unheeded sage. Mendes’s version brought in waltzing verses, a bossa nova chorus, a cushiony orchestral arrangement, a new countermelody and smiley, nonchalant vocals — and scored a Grammy-winning, international hit.
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66, ‘Viramundo’ (1970)
Mendes recorded Gilberto Gil’s “Viramundo” (“Wanderer”), a song that revels in being a perpetually traveling outsider, while Gil was in exile from the military dictatorship in Brazil. With Brasil ’66, Mendes turned it into a percussive samba parade, busy with triangle and cowbell, and topped by call-and-response women’s voices.
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Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77, ‘País Tropical’ (1971)
This party-hearty version of Ben Jor’s “País Tropical” flaunts the anything-goes spirit of Brazilian tropicália. Mendes’s two-fisted piano, a horn section and very loose tambourine playing hint at gospel and soul, while there’s some wah-wah psychedelia in the guitar. Meanwhile, the singers sound like they might burst into laughter at any moment.
Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77, ‘Promise of a Fisherman (Promessa de Pescador)’ (1972)
Mendes briefly turned away from American pop crossover efforts to touch down in Brazilian music with his album “Primal Roots.” In “Promise of a Fisherman (Promessa de Pescador),” he seeks out the mystical core of a song by Dorival Caymmi, using only its chorus. It begins with eerie whistling, followed by a stark processional chant for percussion and women’s voices that invokes Iemanja, the Yoruban-Brazilian deity of the sea; churchy organ chords affirm that it’s a ritual.
Sergio Mendes, ‘Magalenha’ (1992)
On his album “Brasileiro,” Mendes once more returned triumphantly to Brazilian music (and won a Grammy Award for world music). He teamed up with the brilliant Bahian songwriter and producer Carlinhos Brown for Brown’s song “Magalenha,” which pays tribute to Afro-Brazilian women’s work and the joys of a day in the sun. It’s all percussion and voices, with Brown’s lead vocals answered by a whooping (yet precise) backup chorus over a swaggering sambareggae beat.
Sergio Mendes featuring India.Arie, ‘Timeless’ (2006)
The “Timeless” album was Mendes’s bridge to hip-hop and neo-soul, produced by Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas with guests including Erykah Badu and Q-Tip. It included a hip-hop remake of “Mas Que Nada.” But the update is less forced in “Timeless,” written by Mendes and sung by India.Arie. It’s a pop bossa nova with jazzy chord changes and benevolent lyrics. Mendes’s electric piano offers easygoing, darting counterpoint as India.Arie insists “Kindness is timeless/Love is so easy to give.”
Sergio Mendes featuring Nayanna Holley and Carlinhos Brown, ‘Emorio’ (2010)
Sérgio Mendes - Emorio feat. Carlinhos Brown and Nayanna Holley (Officia...
Sérgio Mendes - Emorio feat. Carlinhos Brown and Nayanna Holley (Officia...
Reunited with Brown, Mendes reworked a song from the 1980s written by João Donato and Gil, with new lyrics in English sung by a high-flying Nayanna Holley and a little rapping in Portuguese from Brown. It merges funk and samba, tosses in bits of Brazilian standards (including “Mas Que Nada”) and lets Mendes slip in some modern-jazz piano improvisations and key changes before returning to the euphoric chorus.
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