Sérgio Mendes, who has died aged 83 after affected by the consequences of lengthy Covid, was one of the profitable Brazilian artists of all time. A pianist, songwriter, arranger and bandleader, he loved a prolonged profession that started within the bossa nova growth of the early Sixties and continued for six a long time – lengthy after the bossa craze was over.
His success was primarily based on his talent in matching Brazilian songs and rhythms towards totally different western types, from jazz and rock to funk and hip hop. Within the 60s he recorded with the American jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley after which notched up hits with covers of songs by the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel.
In 1971 he performed on the White Home for President Richard Nixon; and in 1982 was again to play for Ronald Reagan. Within the 90s he grew to become a hero for the easy-listening market, and in 2006 he received over a brand new viewers when he collaborated with will.i.am and different members of the American rap group Black Eyed Peas.
Not like João Gilberto or Antōnio Carlos (Tom) Jobim, Mendes was not one of many unique creators of the bossa fashion when this romantic, reflective fusion of Brazilian samba-cancão, western classical influences and American “cool jazz” first emerged in Rio de Janeiro within the late 50s, however he quickly grew to become one in every of its most interesting exponents, with encouragement from Jobim.
When the American jazz stars Charlie Byrd and Herbie Mann visited Rio in 1961 to take a look at this new music, Mendes was a type of with whom they performed. And when Brazil’s bossa heroes have been invited to Carnegie Corridor, New York, in November 1962 to collaborate with Byrd and different American jazz musicians, Mendes was included.
The go to reworked his profession. Whereas in New York, he met Adderley, who invited Mendes to file with him, and he additionally met Nesuhi Ertegun, the president of Atlantic Information, who signed him up and would launch his album The Swinger from Rio. In 1964, Mendes determined to maneuver to the US, however selected California moderately than New York. The primary two albums he recorded there have been unsuccessful, however he then modified labels and types with dramatic outcomes.
He met the trumpeter Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the founders of A&M data, and signed to their label. And he hit on the formulation that may make him a celebrity.
He recruited two feminine singers, Lani Corridor and Bibi Vogel, for a band he named Brasil ’66. Produced by Alpert, their album Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 (1966) was a large hit.
It included Brazilian-influenced covers of western pop songs together with the Beatles’ Day Tripper, with lyrics in English, however was most outstanding for the remodeling of the Jorge Ben traditional Mas Que Nada, sung within the unique Portuguese. The album reached the US Prime Ten, and Mas Que Nada reached No 5 within the singles charts – the primary track in Portuguese to take action.
At all times retaining his “trademark sound” of two women singing collectively within the band, he notched up an additional string of hits with Brazilian-influenced covers, together with the Beatles’ Idiot on the Hill, Simon and Garfunkel’s Scarborough Honest and Dusty Springfield’s The Look of Love. In 1967 he toured for the primary time with Frank Sinatra, and in 1968 performed his first concert events in Japan, the place he grew to become extraordinarily fashionable, returning over 30 occasions.
His profession dipped within the 70s, however he saved touring and recording – he would launch greater than 40 albums throughout his profession. In 1980 Sinatra invited him for a second main tour, which included a present on the Royal Albert Corridor in London, and three years later he notched up one other hit with By no means Gonna Let You Go.
In 1992 he was awarded a World Music Grammy for his album Brasileiro, whereas in 2006 got here a startling change of course with the album Timeless. Produced by will.i.am, it featured appearances from stars together with Stevie Surprise and Justin Timberlake, and opened with the Black Eyed Peas’ hip-hop remedy of Mas Que Nada. An enormous hit in Europe, it reached No 1 in Hungary and the Netherlands and No 2 within the UK Hip Hop/R&B charts.
Following its launch, Mendes performed a present on the Barbican in London, at which he switched from his 60s hits to breezy simple listening, and he ended by performing the hip hop model of Mas Que Nada twice. His spouse, Gracinha Leporace, was one of many two feminine singers.
In 2012 he was nominated for an Oscar for his track Actual in Rio from the animated movie Rio, and in 2014 he once more acted as producer, composer, arranger and performer for the follow-up, Rio 2. In 2015 he performed to greater than 100,000 followers at Rock In Rio, and in 2020 launched the album Within the Key of Pleasure.
A 2021 documentary about his life, Sergio Mendes: Within the Key of Pleasure, included contributions from Alpert, Harrison Ford, Pelé and can.i.am. Mendes final carried out in November final yr, when his European tour included a return to the Barbican.
Mendes was born in Niterói, in Rio de Janeiro State. He stated: “My father was black, my mom’s aspect was Portuguese.” As a toddler he needed to put on a forged for 3 years as he was affected by osteomyelitis, however “my father was a physician, so we have been capable of get penicillin, and that saved my leg”. He discovered “a brand new life” when his mom gave him a piano, and he studied classical types on the Niterói music conservatory.
He grew to become fascinated by jazz after first listening to Dave Brubeck on the age of 15, and commenced taking part in at tea dances and events earlier than turning into a key determine within the bossa scene, performing on the Bottles membership in Copacabana, the place he met Jobim and Gilberto.
He fashioned the Bossa Rio Sextet, with whom he recorded Dance Moderno in 1961. The band performed round Brazil and have been employed by a textile firm because the opening act for vogue reveals in Europe, the Center East and Japan. Then got here the invitation to affix the bossa elite at Carnegie Corridor, and he went on to vary the face of Brazilian music.
He’s survived by Gracinha, his spouse of greater than 50 years, and their two youngsters, Tiago and Gustavo; by three youngsters, Bernardo, Rodrigo and Isabella, from an earlier marriage that led to divorce: and by seven grandchildren.
