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Growing up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Mendes studied piano classically from a young age. However, at the age of 15, the budding musician was taken by the bossa nova craze, deciding to pursue his interest in this new and exciting music instead, moving away from his classical teachings. Mendes began mine with fellow bossa nova musicians, such as João Gilberto, as well as visiting jazz stars from the states, including Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Byrd.
Mendes made his first recording in 1961, ‘Dance Moderno,” backed by his band, the Sexteto Bossa Rio. Mendes soon made his way over to the US, performing in New York City, US, playing along with jazz great Cannonball Adderley. Mendes’ music n his initial recordings was heavily influenced by Antonio Carlos Jobim, although as the decade went on, Mendes developed his musical style to great success. Moving to A&M records in 1966, Mendes and his band, now known as Brazil ’66, made a breakthrough with their self-titled debut, finding many fans of its mix of soft jazz, bossa nova rhythms and contemporary pop melodies.
Hit after hit followed for Mendes, with his singles regularly making the top five of the US charts. Tracks like “Mas Que Nada,” “Night and Day,” “Look Around” and their version of “Scarborough Fair” all faired well in the charts, establishing Mendes as the top-selling Brazilian artist of the 60s. Mendes continued to find success with his Latino-light jazz throughout the 70s and 80s, especially with his 1983 comeback, “Sergio Mendes” which broke into the top 40 once again and featured a string of hit singles.
His success waned as Mendes continued to perform and record into the 90s and new millennium, although Mendes began to be more experimental with his offerings. He began incorporating Bahian hip hop sounds in “Brasil 2000,” also collaborating with American hip hop group, Black Eyed Peas on “Encanto” in 2008. Mendes continued to perform internationally at a number of major festivals, before returning with an album of new recordings, “Magic,” in September 2014.
Sergio Mendes has had a very long and successful Bossa nova and jazz career, and any doubts as to why can be eliminated by seeing his performance live just once. This is the kind of toe tapping music that nobody can resist, even if at first they want to.
The dude is absolutely timeless, there's something very special about watching him up there on stage with his supporting performers as he just unleashes waves of light, fun, vibrant beats onto the crowd. There's a reason he's performed with so many people over the years and there's a reason he still does it even though it's been quite some time since he's had to for financial reasons, he enjoys doing it.
I could see that quite clearly from the crowd, he just loves using his voice and the keyboard to create a fun atmosphere. He likes giving people the same enjoyment that he feels playing it, and it makes for a very fun place to be. Nobody can be angry when listening to this music, it is impossible. Don't let this be a performer you look back on and say you missed out on seeing live. This is the type of music that's made for summer, I don't know how to describe it better than that.
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