Sergio Mendes On An Easy Listening Tuesday

     
     

Ever since I was 3 or 4 years old, Sergio Mendes and his music has been a part of my life. It started with my parents, who bought a lot of those early Brasil '66 records, and carried into the '70s where my family and I actually went and saw Brasil '77 live in concert. I've always had a soft spot for their music - sure, it's easy listening, but it's so well crafted and I'm a sucker for a bossa nova beat. In the '60s it was swanky, bachelor pad music - Brazilian rhythms + jazz applied to classic western pop tunes by the likes of Bacharach or Simon & Garfunkle or the Beatles. In the early '70s the group embraced their musical roots, and became an earthier, more traditionally Brazilian band - lots of crazy percussion and chants. By the time the '80s rolled around they had morphed into too much of an MOR act, and I lost interest. The older stuff still gets me going though, and I will buy the records if I come across them in the used bins, or if they are remastered and reissued on CD - which hasn't happened enough! Here are a couple of tunes from two different eras of the band. Pretty World is Brasil '66 at it's prettiest - gorgeous orchestration, lovely horns and the sweet voice of Lani Hall, plus a great melody all make this one a treat. By the time 1975 rolled around Sergio was making the transition to a more American style of pop music, and from his self titled LP of that year comes If I Ever Lose This Heaven. Kicking off with a wicked little breakbeat riff (can't believe this one hasn't been sampled!), it's pure r'n'b - funky bass and drums, disco strings and horns perfectly orchestrated by Dave Grusin, and the soulful vocals of Bonnie Bowden and Sondra Catton. Very groovy.