Bringing Brazilian music to the world, and Brazilian music to the world: this has been Sérgio Mendes' mission and passion for decades.
The artist died Friday at age 83 after a six-decade career that included more than 35 albums.
A master of sparkling keys, striking off-beat strides, harmonic grace and seductive dissonance, Mendes not only popularized bossa nova worldwide, but also pioneered a contemporary Brazilian interpretation of the piano, paving the way for other musicians such as Eumier Deodato, Tania Maria and Amaro Freitas.
He also cemented Brazil's place in the jazz world and gave Latin salsa a South American touch, inspiring a post-cool era vibe: whereas Tom Jobim's “The Girl from Ipanema” took a more contemplative stance, Mendes' “Mas Que Nada” evoked the intensity of a dance lounge.
A magical mix of bossa nova, candomblé and rhythmic guitar, this song was gaining steam as a Brazilian standard by the time composer Jorge Ben Jor met Mendes at a samba and jazz night in Rio in the early 1960s. But it was Mendes' pianistic rendition that brought the song worldwide attention. Like a Brazilian Duke Ellington, Mendes places the piano at the center of a samba circle, recreating Jor's percussive guitar playing with his left hand, while his right hand features Latin piano-heavy phrases. A pleasing finger-snapping and crescendo vocal line, “You will not want me to end it,” closes out with effortless precision.
This kind of pulsating piano seems natural for a musician who learned classical music at home while living in Rio during the Belle Époque of the 1950s, a time when Brazil was poised to become the nation of the future and when samba and jazz collided in the city's fashionable venues.
Born in Niterói in southeastern Brazil, the young Mendes would take an hour-long boat ride across the city's bay to attend a concert in Rio's Beco das Garrafas neighborhood, the city's New York equivalent of 52nd Street. It didn't take long for him to transition from spectator to performer: Not only was he a virtuoso on the piano, he was also well-versed in jazz standards by the likes of Dave Brubeck and Art Tatum.
After performing alongside João Gilberto, Jobim and Luiz Bonfa at the legendary bossa nova concert at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1962, Mendes decided to base himself in the United States, moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s and later joined by other Brazilian artists such as Edu Lobo, Flora Purim and Sivuka.
Bossa nova went into decline after the military dictatorship came to power in Brazil in 1964, but Mendes maintained his distinctive sound and sought to break into the US entertainment industry, developing the style pioneered by Stan Getz and Jobim.
From the late 60s through the 80s, Mendes maintained his Brazilian persona and attempted to recreate his golden age with new members of his stage band, while exploring American pop and other experimental ideas. The former featured regular samba classics, such as on the album Horizonte Aberto, while the latter produced some undiscovered gems. The spiritual album Crystal Illusions and the summer disco album Magical Lady, for example, show Mendes' talents as an imaginative composer and skilled orchestral player. As an arranger, he teamed up with Mendes on the 1977 debut album of the soccer star Pelé, which was used as the soundtrack for a documentary about the soccer star.
Mendes enjoyed a resurgence in the '90s, winning a Grammy for his 1992 album Brasileiro. His debut album, Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, released in 1966 with the band Brazil '66, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2012, making Mendes and João Gilberto the only two Brazilians on the list at the time.
In recent years, Mendes' work has been influenced by artists such as Erykah Badu and Will.i.am He produced an original version of the Black Eyed Peas' “Mas Que Nada” in the 2000s, which again entered the Brazilian charts.
Their collaboration culminated in the 2006 album Timeless, a star-studded effort that showcased a musician eager to connect with a new audience: Tracks like “Bananeira,” featuring Mr. Vegas, fuse dancehall with bossa nova, A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip produces a jazzy rap version of “A Rã (The Frog),” Jill Scott's mellow vocals weave over Mendes' fuzzy electric organ on “Let Me,” and Brazilian hip-hop star Marcelo D2 calls Mendes back to his Rio roots.
In 2015, Mendes performed in front of a sold-out crowd at the 30th anniversary event of Rock in Rio festival in the Brazilian capital.
It was a fitting final concert for the artist. Having spent most of his career in the United States, Mendes experienced the bittersweet reality of being a Brazilian artist with great success abroad. To the world, he was celebrated as the sound of Brazil. In Brazil, he was celebrated as a master, but seen by some as embodying the music of the past. Yet it was precisely these conflicting emotions that made him such an outstanding artist. Outside Brazil, Mendes found a global audience for the music of his native country.
