Sérgio Santos Mendes, pron. IPA: ['sɛxʒiu 'sɐ̃tus 'mẽ'dʒis], (born February… Read Full Bio ↴Sérgio Santos Mendes, pron. IPA: ['sɛxʒiu 'sɐ̃tus 'mẽ'dʒis], (born February 11, 1941 in Niterói, Brazil) is a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian musician. He has released over thirty-five albums, and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk.

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

Senhoras Do Amazonas
Sérgio Mendes Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Rio, vim saber de ti e vi
Vi teu tropical sem fim
Quadrou de ser um mar
Longe Anhangá

Tantas cunhãs e eu curumim
O uirapuru
(Oh, lua azul)

Cantou pra mim

Rio, vim saber de ti, meu mar
Negro maracá jari
Pará, Paris jardim, muiraquitãs
Tantas manhãs, nós no capim

Jurupari
(Oh, Deus daqui)
Jjurou assim

Porque fugir se enfim me queres?
Só me feriu como me feres
A mais civilizada das mulheres
Senhoras do Amazonas que sois

Donas dos homens e das setas
Por que já não amais vossos poetas?

Overall Meaning

In "Senhoras Do Amazonas," Sergio Mendes begins by conveying his impressions of Rio, revealing it as a place of endless beauty and tropical charm. At the beginning of the song, he describes how he came to know the city and mentions the Anhangá, a mountain located in the region. Sergio Mendes sings about the many cunhãs, or young women, and he, representing a curumim, or an indigenous child, found himself in awe of the Uirapuru, a small brown bird of the Brazilian rainforests. As the moon shone a blue color, and the Uirapuru serenaded him, he was enthralling the splendid music of nature.

Rio has always been famous for its vibrant nightlife, street parties, and samba, and the mention of the Negro Maracá jari highlights its cultural significance. Sergio mentions different exotic places in the song, including Pará, Paris Jardim, and various other locations known for their natural beauty. In the next section of the song, Sergio emphasizes the importance of the women of the Amazon, who represent civilization and sophistication. Despite this, their relationship with poets is troubled, and their alliance with men is significant. He is questioning the women's behavior and trying to understand why they neglect their poets who passionately express their love and devotion to them.

Interesting facts:

Line by Line Meaning

Rio, vim saber de ti e vi
I came to see you, Rio, and I saw your endless tropical beauty

Vi teu tropical sem fim
I saw your endless tropical beauty

Quadrou de ser um mar
It was like being out at sea

Longe Anhangá
Far from Anhangá

Tantas cunhãs e eu curumim
So many women and me, a little boy

O uirapuru
The uirapuru bird

(Oh, lua azul)
Oh, blue moon

Cantou pra mim
Sang to me

Rio, vim saber de ti, meu mar
I came to see you, Rio, my sea

Negro maracá jari
Black maraca jari

Pará, Paris jardim, muiraquitãs
Pará, Paris garden, muiraquitãs