Sergio Mendes (born 11 February 1941) Brazilian musician. Born the son of a physician in Niterói, Brazil, Mendes 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 taking off. Mendes played with Antonio 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 an album with Cannonball Adderly and played Carnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and cut an album with Capitol Records. When sales were tepid, he switched to Herb Alpert's A&M label and released Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66. (Mendes' Brasil bands have been many: Brasil '65, Brasil '77. Brasil '99, etc.) The album went platinum and Mendes became the biggest Brazilian star in the U.S. He even played the White House in 1967.

Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled with the bossa nova craze, but he remained very popular in South America and Japan. (This disparity became a Seinfeld in-joke.) The late-1990s lounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' catchy play. He has released over thirty-five albums, and still plays his bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk.

References

• McGowan, Chris and Pessanha, Ricardo. "The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil." 1998. 2nd edition. Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-545-3

External links

• Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66/'77/etc. Discography
• Sergio Mendes albums and links at The Brazilian Sound
• Original Liner Notes for Sergio Mendes "Brasileiro" album