Mendes is married to Gracinha Leporace who regularly performs vocals for her husband and can also be heard on his 2006 version of the song Mas Que Nada with the Black Eyed Peas.
Early career
The child of a physician in Niterói, Brazil, Mendes attended the local conservatory with hopes of becoming a classical pianist. As his interest in jazz grew, he started playing in nightclubs in the late-1950s just as bossa nova, a jazz-inflected derivative of samba, was taking off. Mendes played with Antônio Carlos Jobim (whom he regarded as a mentor) and many U.S. jazz musicians who toured Brazil.
Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded Dance Moderno in 196. Touring Europe and the United States, Mendes recorded albums with Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann and played Carnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and cut two albums under the name Sergio Mendes and Brasil '65 with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records.
Brasil '66
When sales were tepid, he replaced his Brazilian born vocalist Wanda de Sa with the distinctive voice of Chicago native Lani Hall (who learned Mendes' Portuguese material phonetically), switched to Herb Alpert's A&M label, and released Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66, an album that went platinum based largely on the success of the single "Mas Que Nada" (a Jorge Ben cover) and the personal support of Alpert, with whom Mendes toured regularly.
The original lineup of Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 was Mendes (piano), vocalists Lani Hall and Janis Hansen, Bob Matthews (bass), Jose Soares (percussion), and Joao Palma (drums). John Pisano guested as guitarist. This lineup recorded three albums between 1966-1968 (including the best-selling Look Around LP), before there was a major personnel change for their fourth album Fool on the Hill.
Karen Philipp replaced Hansen as the second female vocalist, while veteran drummer Dom Um Romão teamed with Rubens Bassini to assume percussionist duties. Sebastiao Neto was the new bassist and Oscar Castro-Neves the guitarist. This lineup had a more orchestral and big band sound than their predecessors. Most significantly, in the early 1970s, lead singer Hall pursued a solo career and became Alpert's second wife. Some accounts claim that Mendes was upset with Alpert for years for "stealing" Hall away from his group.
Though his early singles with Brasil '66 (most notably "Mas Que Nada") met with some success, Mendes really burst into mainstream prominence when he performed the Oscar-nominated Burt Bacharach and Hal David song The Look of Love on the Academy Awards telecast in April 1968. Brasil '66's version of the song quickly shot into the top 10, peaking at #4, and eclipsing Dusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of the movie, Casino Royale. Mendes spent the rest of 1968 enjoying consecutive top 10 and top 20 hits with his follow-up singles, "The Fool on the Hill" and "Scarborough Fair". From 1968 on, Mendes was arguably the biggest Brazilian star in the world, enjoying immense popularity worldwide and performing in venues as varied as stadium arenas and the White House, where he gave concerts for both Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.
Middle career
Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled in the mid-1970s, but he remained very popular in South America and Japan. His two albums with Bell Records in 1973 and 1974, followed by several for Elektra from 1975 on, found Mendes continuing to mine the best in American pop music and post-bossa writers of his native Brazil, while forging new directions in soul with collaborators like Stevie Wonder, who wrote Mendes' R&B-inflected minor hit, "The Real Thing".
In 1983, he rejoined Alpert's A&M records and enjoyed huge success with a self-titled album and several follow-up albums, all of which received considerable adult contemporary airplay with charting singles. "Never Gonna Let You Go", featuring vocals by Joe Pizzulo and Leza Miller, equalled the success of his 1968 single "The Look of Love" by reaching #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; it also spent four weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In 1984, Mendes worked with singer Lani Hall again.
By the time Mendes released his Grammy-winning Elektra album Brasileiro in 1992, he was the undisputed master of pop-inflected Brazilian jazz. The late-1990s lounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' oeuvre, particularly the classic Brasil '66 albums. His stature in his native Brazil is reflected by "Cantor de Mambo", a song by fellow Brazilians Os Mutantes, which they regularly dedicate to Mendes in concert.
Later career
Timeless features a wide array of neo-soul and alternative hip hop guest artists, most prominently will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas. It was released February 14, 2006 by Concord Records.
The album features the Black Eyed Peas, Erykah Badu, Black Thought, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, India.Arie, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Q-Tip, Stevie Wonder and Pharoahe Monch.
The 2006 re-recorded version of "Mas que Nada" with the Black Eyed Peas had additional vocals by Gracinha Leporace (Mendes' wife); a version that is included on his album Timeless. In Brazil, the song is pretty well-known for being the theme song for the local television channel Globo's Estrelas.
The Black Eyed Peas' version also contains a sample of their 2004 hit "Hey Mama". The re-recorded song became popular on many European charts. On the UK Singles Chart, the song entered at #29 and rose to and peaked at #6 on its second week on the chart.
Official website of Sérgio Mendes: http://www.sergiomendesmusic.com
Kisses
Sérgio Mendes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Like dreaming
Kisses taking us softly in flight
Like drifting
Shadows hiding us under a shawl
Like falling
Kisses wandering over us all
Like loving
Kisses finding their way from the start
Like magic
Learning all of our secrets by heart
Like music
Holding on till the world disappears
Like lasting
Kisses sweet with the taste of our tears
Like loving
All there is to know
All there is to say
All there is
Is our feeling forever
This way
In your arms I could spend all my time
Like living
Losing sense of all reason or rhyme
Like floating
After all, all that matters is we're together
Kisses making us warm with delight
Kisses taking us softly in flight
Kisses waking us deep in the night with love
In Sergio Mendes's song Kisses, the lyrics describe the way that kisses can bring lovers together and create a sense of intimacy and connection. The opening lines of the song set the scene for a romantic encounter, with kisses "waking us up deep in the night" and feeling like a dream. The use of the word "drifting" to describe the way that kisses can transport us away from our worries and fears adds to the sense of romance and surrealism.
Throughout the rest of the song, the lyrics continue to emphasize the power of kisses to bring people together and create a feeling of deep emotional connection. The lines "kisses finding their way from the start/Learning all of our secrets by heart" suggest that kisses are a way for lovers to get to know each other intimately, beyond the surface level. The use of metaphors like "holding on till the world disappears" and "losing sense of all reason or rhyme" further emphasize the all-encompassing nature of love.
Ultimately, the song argues that the only thing that really matters in life is the feeling of being in love and being together with someone special. The repetition of the phrase "like loving" throughout the song reinforces the idea that kisses are a tangible expression of love and passion.
Line by Line Meaning
Kisses waking us up deep in the night
Kisses that awaken us in the middle of the night, as if we were still dreaming
Kisses taking us softly in flight
Kisses that lift us up as if we were floating away
Shadows hiding us under a shawl
Shadows that cover us, like a veil of protection
Kisses wandering over us all
Kisses that roam over every inch of us, filled with love
Kisses finding their way from the start
Kisses that have a magical ability to connect us right from the beginning
Learning all of our secrets by heart
Kisses that teach each other everything about the other, storing it in the heart
Holding on till the world disappears
Kisses that keep holding on even when the world around us disappears
Kisses sweet with the taste of our tears
Kisses filled with the sweetness of tears, born out of love
All there is to know
All the things we should discover
All there is to say
All the things we need to admit and express
All there is
Everything that exists between us
Is our feeling forever
Is the feeling that would last forever
In your arms I could spend all my time
Being in your arms is the best way to spend my time, living my life
Losing sense of all reason or rhyme
Being with you, I lose all sense of logic, of order and of words
After all, all that matters is we're together
In the end, what matters most to us is that we stay together
Kisses making us warm with delight
Kisses that warm us and fill us with joy and happiness
Kisses taking us softly in flight
Kisses that take us gently away, as if we were soaring up in the sky
Kisses waking us deep in the night with love
Kisses that wake us up in the middle of the night, reminding us of our love
Contributed by Nicholas I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
david
on Waters of March (Les Eaux de Mars) - French Version
haaaaaaaaaaaaaa