Сержио Мендес: Бразильский музыкант и звезда босса-новы.

Brazilian musician

Sérgio Santos Mendes (; born February 11, 1941) is a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his band Brasil '66. He has over 55 releases and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk. Mendes, a Brazilian musician, is primarily known in the United States, where his albums were recorded and where most of his touring took place. Mendes is married to Gracinha Leporace, who has performed with him since the early 1970s. Mendes has collaborated with many artists through the years, including the Black Eyed Peas, with whom he re recorded in 2006 a version of his breakthrough hit "Mas que Nada".

Mendes was born in Niterói, Brazil, the son of a physician. He 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. 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. 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". From 1968 on, Mendes was arguably the biggest Brazilian star in the world 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. The Brasil '66 group appeared at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan in June 1970.

Mendes' career in the U. S. stalled in the mid 1970s, but he remained popular in South America and Japan. His two albums with Bell Records in 1973 and 1974 followed by several for Elektra from 1975 on such as "Brasil '88", found Mendes continuing 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, 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. 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. The 1980s also saw Mendes working with singer Lani Hall again on the song "No Place to Hide" from the Brasil '86 album, and as producer 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.

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. 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. He makes an appearance dancing along for one of the segments Pharrell Williams' 24 hour of happy. Mendes served as co producer on the soundtrack albums for two animated films about his homeland: 2011's Rio and its 2014 sequel.

Year Category Recipient Outcome1969Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with VocalsThe Fool on the Hill 1993 Best World Music Album Brasileiro 2007Best Urban/Alternative Performance"Mas que Nada" featuring Black Eyed Peas"That Heat" featuring Erykah Badu and will. i. am 2011 Best Contemporary World Music Album Bom tempo 2015Best World Music AlbumMagic