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Sérgio Mendes | |
|---|---|
 Mendes in 1971 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Santos Sergio |
| Born | Sérgio Santos Mendes (1941-02-11)11 February 1941 |
| Died | 5 September 2024(2024-09-05) (aged 83) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instrument | Piano |
| Works | Sérgio Mendes discography |
| Years active | 1961–2023 |
| Labels | |
Spouse | Gracinha Leporace |
Sérgio Santos Mendes (Brazilian Portuguese:[ˈsɛʁʒjuˈsɐ̃tuzˈmẽdʒis]; 11 February 1941 – 5 September 2024) was a Brazilian musician.
His career took off with worldwide hits by his bandBrasil '66. He released 35 albums and was known for playingbossa nova, often mixed withfunk. He was nominated for anOscar forBest Original Song in 2012 as a co-writer of "Real in Rio" from the animated filmRio.
Mendes was primarily known in the United States, where his albums were recorded and where most of his touring took place. He was married toGracinha Leporace, who performed with him from the early 1970s. Mendes collaborated with many artists, includingBlack Eyed Peas, with whom he re-recorded in 2006 a remake of his 1966 version of the song "Mas que nada", which was a breakthrough hit for him.
Mendes was born inNiterói, east acrossGuanabara Bay fromRio de Janeiro, on 11 February 1941.[1] As he related inIn the Key of Joy, a biopic about his career, he had to wear a cast for three years because he hadosteomyelitis. His father was a doctor, and he was one of the first people inBrazil to be givenpenicillin.[2] Sergio studied classical music at the localconservatory with hopes of becoming a classical pianist. As his interest injazz grew, he started playing in nightclubs in the late 1950s at the time thatbossa nova, a jazz-infused derivative ofsamba, was emerging.
Sergio Mendes played withAntônio Carlos Jobim, who was regarded as a mentor, and U.S. jazz musicians who toured Brazil. Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recordedDance Moderno in 1961. He toured Europe and the United States where he recorded albums withCannonball Adderley andHerbie Mann. In 1962 he played in a bossa nova festival atCarnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and cut two albums under the group name Sergio Mendes & Brasil '65 withCapitol Records andAtlantic Records.[1]
Mendes formed a partnership with Richard Adler, a Brooklyn-born American who had brought Bossa Trés and two dancers, Joe Bennett and a Brazilian partner, to appear onThe Ed Sullivan Show in 1963. He was accompanied by Jobim, Flavio Ramos andAloísio de Oliveira, a record and TV producer from Rio who had been a member ofCarmen Miranda's backing groupBando da Lua. The Musicians Union only allowed this group to appear on one TV show and to 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 enrolled Mendes and the other band members into the local musicians' union. Adler and Mendes formed Brasil '65, which consisted ofWanda Sá andRosinha de Valença, as well as the Sergio Mendes Trio. The group recorded albums for Atlantic and Capitol.
Mendes' jazz albums for Atlantic Records, throughNesuhi andAhmet Ertegun, had low sales. Adler suggested that Mendes and the group sing in English as well asPortuguese, as Mendes had demanded, and Adler provided new English-based material such as "Goin' Out of My Head" byTeddy Randazzo andBobby 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 contacted his friend Jerry Dennon andA&M Records foundersHerb Alpert andJerry Moss, and arranged for an audition for Mendes' new group, which was named "Brasil '66.'" Alpert and Moss signed Mendes and his group to A&M Records.[1] Adler asked the Ertegun Brothers at Atlantic Records to 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. 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 composer and singerJorge Ben.
The first album on A&M wasHerb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, an album that went platinum as a result of the success of the single "Mas que nada" and the personal support of Alpert, with whom Mendes toured. The original lineup of Brasil '66 was Mendes (piano), vocalistsLani Hall (later Alpert's wife) and Sylvia Dulce Kleiner (Bibi Vogel [pt;it]) (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-sellingLook Around LP, before a major personnel change for its fourth albumFool on the Hill.[3]
Mendes often changed the band's lineup. Vocalist Kleiner (Bibi Vogel) was replaced byJanis Hansen, who in turn was replaced byKaren Philipp. Veteran drummerDom Um Romão teamed withRubens Bassini to assume percussionist duties.Claudio Slon joined the group as drummer in 1969 and played with Mendes for nearly a decade. Sebastião Neto took over on bass andOscar Castro-Neves took on guitar. These changes gave the group a more orchestral sound. 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 Mendes for eight 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 burst into mainstream prominence when he performed theOscar-nominated "The Look of Love" on theAcademy 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 eclipsingDusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of the movieCasino 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 a major Brazilian star[3] and enjoyed immense popularity worldwide, performing in venues as varied as stadium arenas and theWhite House, where he gave concerts for presidentsLyndon B. Johnson andRichard Nixon.[3] The Brasil '66 group appeared at theWorld Expo inOsaka, Japan in June 1970.
Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled in the mid-1970s, but he remained popular in South America and Japan. On his two albums withBell Records in 1973 and 1974 and several forElektra from 1975 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 likeStevie 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 byJoe Pizzulo and Leeza Miller,[1] equalled the success of his 1968 single "The Look of Love" by reaching No. 4 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart; it also spent four weeks atop theBillboardadult contemporary chart.[4] In 1984, he recorded theConfetti album which had the hit songs "Olympia", which was also used as atheme 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 worked again with singerLani Hall on the song "No Place to Hide" from theBrasil '86 album, and produced her vocals on the title song for theJames Bond filmNever Say Never Again.
By the time Mendes released his Grammy-winning Elektra albumBrasileiro in 1992, he was the undisputed master of pop-inflected Brazilian jazz.[citation needed] The late-1990slounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' oeuvre, particularly the classic Brasil '66 albums.
In the 4th season of Seinfeld, during the episode titled "The Old Man", Mendes is mentioned when Kramer and Newman try and sell their used records to a record store. Because of his popularity in South America, Kramer and Newman feel they should have received more money on their trade-in.[5]
The 2006 albumTimeless featured a wide array ofneo-soul andalternative hip hop guest artists, includingthe Black Eyed Peas,Erykah Badu,Black Thought,Jill Scott,Chali 2na ofJurassic 5,India.Arie,John Legend,Justin Timberlake,Q-Tip,Stevie Wonder andPharoahe Monch. It was released on 14 February 2006,byConcord Records.[3]
The 2006 re-recorded version of "Mas que Nada" with the Black Eyed Peas had additional vocals byGracinha Leporace (Mendes' wife) and this version was included onTimeless. In Brazil, the song became the theme song of the local television channel Globo's Estrelas. The Black Eyed Peas' version contained a sample of their 2004 hit "Hey Mama". The re-recorded song became popular on European charts. On theUK Singles Chart, the song entered at No. 29 and peaked at No. 6 in its second week on the chart.
In 2013, Mendes made an appearance dancing to one of the segments ofPharrell Williams' "24 Hours of Happy."[6] In 2012, he was nominated for anOscar forBest Original Song as co-writer of "Real in Rio" from the animated filmRio.[7] He was the co-producer on the soundtrack albums for two animated films about his homeland: 2011'sRio and its 2014sequel.[citation needed] He was the subject of the 2020 documentarySergio Mendes in the Key of Joy.[2] Mendes gave his final performances in November 2023.[8] He played bossa nova which was often combined with funk.[3] He had released 35 albums.
Mendes died from complications oflong COVID at a hospital inLos Angeles on 5 September 2024, at the age of 83.[2][9]
| 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" featuringBlack Eyed Peas | Nominated |
| "That Heat" featuringErykah Badu andwill.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 | Nominated |
| 2006 | Record of the Year | "Mas que Nada" featuringBlack Eyed Peas | Nominated |
| Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album | Timeless | Won | |
| 2008 | Best Brazilian Song | "Acode" featuringVanessa da Mata | Nominated |
| 2010 | Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album | Bom Tempo | Won |
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| Band | |
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| Solo | |
| Brasil '66 | |
| Brasil '77 | |
| Singles | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
