Remembering Sergio Mendes
February 11, 1941 – September 6, 2024
A tribute to the pianist and bandleader
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Sergio Mendes passed away on Sept. 6, 2024 at the age of 83.
He was born on Feb. 11, 1941 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and planned originally to become a classical pianist.
However after he discovered jazz at a teenager, Mendes switched his goals, playing in local nightclubs in the late 1950s.
He was a good friend of Antonio Carlos Jobim and he worked in his group before forming his own Sexteto Bossa Rio in 1961, making an album and also recording a few songs with the visiting Herbie Mann in 1962.
Mendes moved to the United States and appeared at a special all-star bossa nova concert at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 21, 1962, recording “One Note Samba.”
As a Brazilian jazz pianist, Mendes recorded an album with Cannonball Adderley (Cannonball’s Bossa Nova), and recorded a few sets as a leader for the Atlantic label including Swinger From Rio which featured guests Art Farmer, Phil Woods and Hubert Laws, and a record called Brazil ’65 that included Bud Shank.
All of this was a prelude to Sergio Mendes forming Brasil ’66; he added two American female singers who could sing in both English and Portuguese and signed with the A&M label.
With the big success of their single “Mas que Nada,” Brasil ’66 and Mendes became famous, having many pop hits including “The Look Of Love,” “The Fool On The Hill,” and “Scarborough Fair.”
He utilized hip hop guest artists on a 2006 album but Sergio Mendes will always be best known for Brasil ’66.
-Scott Yanow
