Sergio Mendes
(1941-2024)
The Brazilian
musician Sergio Mendes, who with
his band Brasil '66 introduced
Bossa Nova to a worldwide
audience in the 1960s, has died
aged 83 as a result of health
issues related to long-term
COVID. He last performed in
November to sell-out and wildly
enthusiastic audiences in Paris,
London and Barcelona. Born in
Niteroi in 1941 (connected to Rio
de Janeiro by a bridge since
1974) Sergio studied classical
piano as a child. His father was
a doctor and tried to persuade
him to follow in his footsteps,
but gave up when he realized that
the boy had an inborn talent for
jazz. Sergio began playing in Rio
de Janeiro nightclubs in the late
1950s, when Bossa Nova was
becoming an international
sensation. His musical mentor was
none other than the Brazilian
superstar Antonio Carlos Jobim.
In 1964 he moved to Los Angeles
and signed with Capitol Records.
His early albums were
instrumental and it was not until
he recruited two female singers,
recorded in English and named the
band Brasil '66 that sales really
took off. Paradoxically however
it was a number sung in
Portugese, Mas Que Nada
(More Than Anything)
that topped the charts (and is,
incidentally, still very popular
these days). I can remember
dancing to it in a Madrid
nightclub in the late 1960s!
Sergio appeared on
TV during the 1968 American
Oscars Ceremony and at the World
Expo in Japan two years later. He
continued touring and recording
throughout the 80s and 90s and in
2006 (at the age of 65) released
the comeback album Timeless,
in which he appeared alongside
The Black Eyed Peas pop group.
The album was produced by
will-i-am of ITV's The Voice
fame. Sergio also helped to
produce the music for the
animated feature films Rio
and Rio 2, receiving an
Oscar nomination for the song Real
In Rio. He was interviewed
on BBC Radio 3 last year.
Sergio Mendes is
survived by his wife, Leporace,
and five children.
© Anthony
Wills October 2024
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