Bossa nova legend Sérgio Mendes dies

Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes, who helped popularise bossa nova and samba with Western audiences, has died on the age of 83, his household has confirmed.

The bandleader and composer is greatest identified for the buoyant Latin pop hit Mas Que Nada, and placing Brazilian twists on English songs resembling The Look Of Love and The Beatles’ The Idiot On The Hill.

Mendes recorded greater than 35 albums, lots of which went gold or platinum within the US; and acquired an Oscar nomination in 2012 for co-writing the track Actual in Rio from the animated movie Rio.

A press release from his household mentioned Mendes “handed away peacefully” on Thursday in Los Angeles, surrounded by his spouse and youngsters.

No official explanation for dying was given, nevertheless the household mentioned Mendes had been struggling with long-term Covid, and the musician was identified to have suffered respiratory issues for the reason that finish of 2023.

The household’s assertion mentioned Mendes “introduced the joyous sounds of his native Brasil to the world”.

“Mendes final carried out in November 2023 to bought out and wildly enthusiastic homes in Paris, London and Barcelona,” it continued.

“For the final a number of months, his well being had been challenged by the results of long-term COVID.”

The assertion concluded by saying Mendes “leaves us with an unbelievable musical legacy from greater than six many years of a novel sound”.

The son of a doctor, Mendes was born in Niteroi, Brazil, and initially studied classical piano, with the intention of changing into a live performance pianist.

However his life modified in 1956 when he heard his first jazz document, Take 5 by the American musician Dave Brubeck, and deserted his research.

“For me that was like, I’d say, one of many unbelievable moments of my life,” he informed US radio station NPR in 2014, “as a result of once I heard that, I had no thought about jazz or something”.

He began enjoying in nightclubs in Rio de Janeiro, simply because the bossa nova craze hit – and commenced to immerse himself in that scene, alongside different luminaries resembling Antonio Carlos Jobim and João Gilberto.

His first recording, Dance Moderno, was launched in 1961 on the Philips Data label.

Three years later, he left Brazil for the USA to flee the navy dictatorship – however it was not a simple transition.

His Brazilian bandmates returned dwelling, forcing Mendes to type a brand new group. Referred to as Brasil ’66, it featured two American singers, Lani Corridor and Karen Philip.

Signed to A&M Data, they hit on a profitable system – jazzy renditions of widespread Brazilian songs alongside samba-enriched variations of the hits of the day.

They scored their first main hit with Mas Que Nada, a sun-kissed cowl of a Jorge Ben unique, filled with finger clicks, shimmying shakers and an ebullient refrain that sings of the urge to bounce.

There’s “one thing very magical about that chant”, Mendes later recalled. “Folks love that track – in every single place on the earth.”

It was the primary Portuguese-language track to grow to be a worldwide hit; and propelled Brasil ’66’s self-titled debut album into the highest 10 of the US charts.

Later data noticed Mendes good his mix of Western melodies and Brazilian rhythms, protecting Simon & Garfunkel’s Scarborough Honest, and Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay.

When he coated The Beatles’ The Idiot On The Hill on the 1967 album Look Round, Paul McCartney wrote Mendes a letter, telling him it was his favorite model of the track.

Though his music was dismissed as “simple listening” on the time, he was massively widespread, enjoying area excursions and performing on the White Home for presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.

He was a daily on TV exhibits alongside artists resembling Perry Como, Jerry Lewis, Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra, with whom he struck up a detailed friendship.

Within the Seventies, he relaunched his band as Brasil ’77, however his business fortunes waned till the 1983 comeback album, Sergio Mendes, gave him the most important chart hit of his profession – a canopy of the Dionne Warwick basic By no means Gonna Let You Go.

The success happened nearly by chance, as Mendes solely added the track to his repertoire on the final minute.

“All the opposite songs on the album had been up and festive. I wanted a ballad on the album, simply to alter the tempo a bit,” he mentioned in an interview for The Billboard Ebook of No. 1 Grownup Up to date Hits.

In 1992, he received a Grammy for his album Brasileiro, which featured a number of tracks with the younger percussionist and singer Carlinhos Brown – now one among Brazil’s most distinguished musicians.

Amongst their collaborations was Magalenha – a joyous track powered by the energetic sounds of Bahian percussionists from the streets of Rio – that rapidly grew to become a Latin normal.

20 years later, in 2012, the duo acquired an Oscar nomination for his or her work on the Rio soundtrack.

The inclusion of Mas Que Nada on the soundtrack to Mike Myers’ Austin Powers movie launched Mendes to an entire new viewers in 1997, and by the early twenty first Century, most of his again catalogue had been reissued for brand spanking new followers.

Across the identical time, Mendes started to include parts of hip-hop into his sound, collaborating with the Black Eyed Peas on a brand new model of Mas Que Nada, and recording songs with rappers together with Widespread and Q-Tip.

Mendes additionally made a cameo within the 24-hour-long video for Pharrell Williams’ Completely satisfied; and received a lifetime achievement award on the 2005 Latin Grammys.

A movie of his life, Sergio Mendes In The Key Of Pleasure, was launched along side a brand new album in 2020 – and he continued enjoying reside till very just lately, together with an look on the London Jazz Competition final October.

Summing up his philosophy of music, Mendes as soon as mentioned: “After I take into consideration Brazilian music the primary phrases that may come to my thoughts could be pleasure, celebration, get together… I feel it’s within the spirit of the individuals generally.”

The musician is survived by by his spouse, Gracinha Leporace, who sang on lots of his data. He additionally had 5 kids.