IT HAS BEEN MY CONTENTION THAT IF IT WEREN’T FOR THE SENSUOUS SOUNDS OF SAMBA, JAZZ IN THE LATE 50S AND EARLY 60S WOULD HAVE DEVOLVED INTO MINDLESS NAVEL GAZING CACOPHONIES OF FREE JAZZ AND THE AVANT GARDE. THE SEDUCTIVE LILT AND PULSE OF BOSSA NOVA BROUGHT A RENEWED LYRICISM TO MODERN JAZZ, A SOUND THAT IS STILL WITH US TODAY.
ONE OF THE PROGENITORS WAS SERGIO MENDES, WHOSE BAND BRASIL ’66 BROUGH THE SOUNDS OF BRAZIL TO AMERICAN RADIO, WITH SONGS LIKE “MAS QUE NADA” AND “THE LOOK OF LOVE”. HIS UNIQUE VOCAL LEAD OF TWO FEMALE VOCALISTS BECAME THE SIGNATURE OF HIS BAND, SOMETHING THAT IS CONTINUED TO THIS DAY WITH HIS MOST CURRENT ALBUM, IN THE KEY OF JOY.
WE HAD A CHANCE TO CHAT WITH MISTER MENDES, LIVING IN THE WEST VALLEY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, AND HE WAS GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO REMINISCE ABOUT HIS MUSICAL ROOTS AND INSPIRATIONS, BOTH PAST AND PRESENT.
EVERYONE WRITES ABOUT BRASIL 66, BUT NO ONE MENTIONS YOUR EARLIER DAYS
I THINK THAT BOSSA NOVA SAVED JAZZ. DO YOU AGREE?
I don’t know if “saved” is the proper word. But I think that it influenced jazz a lot.
I’m a big jazz fan; I’m a bebopper. I go back to Horace Silver, Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Coltrane and Miles. That’s the music that I grew up with.
But what is interesting is melodically, when bossa nova started, specifically with (Antonio) Jobim’s songs, those melodies and harmonies just seduced the jazz musicians, starting with Stan Getz, then with Dizzy, Sinatra and everybody. It was a new and fresh fountain of inspiration. It was a new source for melody and harmony and it was a good one, because look how many guys recorded that stuff!
Luckily, at the same time I was working in nightclubs in Rio and became close friends with Antonio Carlos Jobim. I had trios and quartets, but at the same time I was listening to the music of Art Tatum, Horace Silver, and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. That was the musical world I grew up in.
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“I’m a bebopper. I go back to Horace Silver, Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Coltrane and Miles. That’s the music that I grew up with”
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YOU CAN SEE THAT IN YOUR HANDS ON THOSE VINTAGE VIDEOS WHEN YOU ARE PLAYING THOSE SONGS LIKE “MAS QUE NADA”.
Horace Silver was my idol. I the chance to meet him several times. I invited him several times to come to Brasil, and he stayed in my little apartment in Rio and we became very good friends.
YOU ARE ONE OF THE FEW ARTISTS AROUND WHO WAS DIRECTLY MENTORED BY ANTONIO JOBIM. WHAT DID YOU GLEAN FROM HIM? 337
I learned many, many things from him. He was our Cole Porter or Irving Berlin. He had a great sense of melody, harmony and orchestration. Just watching him; he would write a song and show it to me and say “Listen to this.” He was an amazing guy.
I had an instrumental band in Brasil called The Bossa Rio Sextet. It had two trombones, a tenor sax with piano, bass and drums. He wrote a lot of the arrangements for me. Watching the way he wrote was a great experience. He was a true genius.
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“those melodies and harmonies just seduced the jazz musicians, starting with Stan Getz, then with Dizzy, Sinatra and everybody. It was a new and fresh fountain of inspiration. It was a new source for melody and harmony and it was a good one”
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IN THOSE EARLY DAYS WHEN ROY ELDRIDGE, DIZZY GILLESPIE AND STAN GETZ CAME TO BRASIL, DID YOU PICK THEIR BRAINS OR VICE VERSA?
I actually met them for the first time in 1962 when I came to the US for the bossa nova concert at Carnegie Hall. They were all of my idols and I was pinching myself. I couldn’t believe I was meeting Dizzy and George Shearing along with many others. That’s when I went to Birdland to watch Cannonball Adderley. He invited me to record an album with him. (Cannonball’s Bossa Nova) I almost fainted when he asked me to do it!
BEFORE THAT WAS YOUR OWN ALBUM DANCE MODERNO
That was my first album, all instrumental. It was jazz-influenced.
AT THAT EARLY POINT IN YOUR CAREER, WAS YOUR GOAL TO PUT OUT JAZZ ALBUMS OR CROSS OVER INTO THE POP FIELD WITH BRASILIAN MUSIC?
My goal was great melodies. Play Brasilian music with great melodies, improvisation and arrangements.
YOUR 1964 ALBUM SWINGER FROM RIO HAD SOME REAL BOPPERS.
That was the one produced by Nesuhi Ertugen, the chairman from Atlantic Records who came to Brasil to do an album with Herbie Mann. He saw me playing in a little club there, and he invited me to play on Herbie Mann’s record. He said “Whenever you come to New York, call me and I will make an album with you.”
Jobim was in New York at the time, and he suggested Phil Woods, Hubert Laws (who was just out of school), and Art Farmer. I was living the dream!
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“(Antonio Jobim) was our Cole Porter or Irving Berlin. He had a great sense of melody, harmony and orchestration. Just watching him; he would write a song and show it to me and say “Listen to this.” He was an amazing guy”
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WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVED IN NEW YORK, WHAT WAS YOUR IMPRESSION OF AMERICAN MUSICIANS AS OPPOSED TO BRASILIAN ONES?
They were just fantastic. As I said, Jobim was my idol, and we had great musicians in Brasil. But when I met those guys here that I only knew by records, it was an incredibly emotional experience.
UP UNTIL THEN, MOST ALBUMS HAD ONLY A WOMAN OR A MAN, OR INTERMITTENTLY A DUET. WHO’S IDEA WAS IT TO BLEND TWO FEMALE VOICES TOGETHER AS THE LEAD?
It was my idea.
I only did vocals after those instrumental albums. I then met Lani Hall in Chicago and Bibi Vogel. Lani was the main sound, who is now married to my dear friend Herb Alpert. She recorded most of the songs, with the other singer doubling her sound, which is what I liked, and I still do.
THAT WAS A MAJOR GAME CHANGER. HOW DID YOU GET INSPIRED TO CREATE THAT SOUND?
I was just in the studio one day and I liked to try different things, and I liked that sound. That sound became a trademark for me.
YOU MENTIONED HERB ALPERT, WHO PRESENTED YOUR BRASIL 66 ALBUM. HOW DID HE CHANGE YOUR BAND?
He changed the band in a big way. I was auditioning in LA, and he and Jerry Moss came and told me that he was starting a new label. He had a band called The Tijuana Brass and he wanted to sign me the label. That was one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life.
AND HE STOLE YOUR SINGER AWAY
(laughs loudly) We’re very close friends. We see each other a lot in LA. I’m very thankful to him and. Jerry Moss because they played a big role in promoting my music and introducing it all over the world. I’m very grateful to them.
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“I wake up and “I’m alive! Great! Here we go again!” I love it!”
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YOUR ALBUMS CLEVERLY MIXED JOBIM WITH THE BEATLES. WHO CAME UP WITH THE SONG SELECTION?
Repertoire was always my idea. A lot of those songs I was playing with my instrumental band in Brasil, which is what Herb and Jerry heard and loved. That’s what they wanted to record.
Later on, because I love melody, I heard songs like “The Fool On The Hill” and “The Look Of Love” and wanted to give my interpretation of them.
ONE THING THAT IS RARE ABOUT YOU AS A LEADER IS THAT YOUR BANDS ARE NEVER ABOUT YOU. YOU TEND TO STAY IN THE BACKGROUND.
Why should I be out front when the band features two beautiful singers?!? (laughs) What’s better than having two gorgeous singers in your band?!? I have the soloists, and I have my role as an arranger, but the thing was the sound of the two girls singing. It still is.
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“Why should I be out front when the band features two beautiful singers?!?”
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I THINK THAT YOU UNDERSTAND SOMETHING THAT MOST JAZZ ARTISTS DON’T: IT HELPS TO HAVE A VISUAL AS WELL AS SONIC ELEMENT TO MUSIC TO MAKE IT POPULAR.
I think so, but I do love sound, and ours was so unique and it identified my music.
When we sing the classics like “Fool On The Hill” and “Mas Que Nada” you hear beautiful voices. I love that sound, and it is still fresh.
Our live shows are very visual as well.
YOU’VE KEPT YOUR JAZZ ROOTS THROUGH THE YEARS AS YOUR LATER ALBUMS INCLUDED BEBOPPER JOHN PISANO ON GUITAR AND FUTURE WEATHER REPORTER DOM UM ROMAO ON PERCUSSION
Joe Zawinul was a dear friend of mine, and still at times the great bassist Alphonso Johnson plays with me when he’s available. I love playing with great jazz musicians.
My new recordings include (bassist) Paul Jackson Jr and (woodwind) Steve Tavaglione, who are great musicians.
EVEN THOUGH YOU STARTED A CERTAIN STYLE AND SOUND, YOU STILL ADAPTED TO CHANGING TIMES, AS YOUR 1992 ALBUM BRASILIERO AND MOST RECENT SONGS IN THE KEY OF JOY INDICATE
I love to surprise myself. I like to be out of my comfort zone and try all kinds of different things.
WHEN YOU HAVE ARTISTS LIKE NATHAN EAST AND LUIS CONTE ON BRASILIEROS, DO YOU RUN YOUR IDEAS BY THEM, OR IS IT MORE LIKE THEM PLAYING YOUR IDEAS?
I started Brasilieros in Brasil with all of the percussionists, and then knew Nathan East, Paul Jackson and Jeff Porcaro who all loved the music as well. So, it was a natural participation.
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“I love to surprise myself. I like to be out of my comfort zone and try all kinds of different things”
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LOOKING BACK THE 55+ YEARS, ISN’T IT AMAZING THAT YOU WERE A SUCCESS?
I feel very honored and blessed to have had a long career and still be working. It’s a wonderful thing.
HAS THERE EVER BEEN SOMEONE’S TEACHING, BOOK OR PHILOSOPHY THAT HAS GUIDED AND MOTIVATED YOU?
It’s a basic thing. Music is my love and my passion, and I’ve run with it. I’ve been very fortunate, as I also have my lovely wife as a singer in the band. It’s been a great ride.
WHAT FUTURE GOALS DO YOU HAVE?
I take a day at a time. I wake up and “I’m alive! Great! Here we go again!” I love it!
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED FOR?
I don’t think about that.
WHERE DO YOU GO FOR BRASILIAN FOOD?
My house (laughs)
THE JOY OF LIFE AND MUSIC EXUDES FROM NOT ONLY THE MUSIC OF SERGIO MENDES, BUT FROM HIS VOICE AND HEART. NO WONDER ALL OF HIS MUSIC HAS ALWAYS BEEN SO UPBEAT AND INFLUENTIAL. HIS APPRECIATION OF THE SIMPLE THINGS OF LIFE IS PALPABLE IN EVERY SONG FROM HIS ALBUMS AND EVERY WORD FROM HIS LIPS. HIS EARLY ALBUMS, AS WELL AS HIS MOST RECENT RELEASES ARE NOT ONLY TIMELESS BUT ETERNAL. LET YOURSELF BE SEDUCED BY SAMBA AND BEYOND!