Bbossa nova, samba, and jazz: the fusion of these genres was the hallmark of Sergio Mendes’ music. He was 83 years old and had been a survivor of COVID, which, however, left him with respiratory sequelae that he battled for months and ultimately led to his passing at his home in Los Angeles. “He died peacefully, surrounded by his wife and children. In recent months, his health had been affected by the effects of prolonged COVID,” a statement noted.
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Mendes, a virtuoso jazz pianist, was responsible for bringing the most popular rhythms of his native Brazil to unsuspected latitudes. Two of his versions turned the songs Magalenha, composed by Carlinhos Brown, and Mas que nada, by Jorge Ben— the latter of which also regained its shine in the 2000s thanks to a collaboration with the Black Eyed Peas—into anthems.
Mendes was born in 1941 in Niterói, near Rio de Janeiro, where he began studying piano at the conservatory. While he was in training, he came into contact with the bossa nova of Tom Jobim and João Gilberto, who would leave a permanent mark on his music.
His talents as a pianist and composer of arrangements attracted the interest of Antonio Carlos Jobim. His mastery of jazz impressed American saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, who chose his band, Sexteto Rio, to record the album Cannonball’s Bossa Nova in 1963. In 1966, Mendes achieved international success with the album Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 and the now-famous Mas que nada.
He recorded more than 35 albums, won three Grammy Awards, was nominated for six others, as well as an Oscar for the original song for the animated film Rio. He was inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame and toured with major American artists like Frank Sinatra. In the United States, where he moved in 1964 after the military coup in his country, he became an important ambassador of Brazilian music.
Throughout his career, Mendes never stopped tapping into the inexhaustible vein of captivating music, skillfully mixing the cadence of samba, the groove of jazz, the subtle vocal harmonies of bossa nova, and the refinement of Californian pop. However, behind the famous musician and the commercial aspect of his themes, which some critics classified as easy listening, there was a spontaneous artist.
“I am very curious; I like to learn, that’s why I pick up French by ear,” Sergio Mendes said in an interview with AFP in Paris in 2014. “The root of my music is Brazilian. In Brazil, we have a beautiful cultural and musical diversity, between the music of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, classical music, and rhythms that came from Africa,” he highlighted then.
He was married to Brazilian singer Gracinha Leporace, with whom he also had musical collaborations. His last tour concluded in November 2023 and sold out in cities such as Paris, London, and Barcelona.
“Rest in peace, dear genius,” said Milton Nascimento, an icon of Brazilian popular music. “It was many years of friendship, collaborations, and music,” he added.
With information from Efe and AFP