TulitaPepsi
Well-Known Member
Sergio was in the UK recently and gave an interview to Soundslam magazine. This forum is mentioned. WARNING: A lot of us old fogeys won't like what Sergio says here.
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SoundSlam: How have you managed to stay current? You've been a professional musician since the late-1950s, so what path have you taken in order to stay up with contemporary music over all these years? Most people tend to stick with what they know rather than try to dissect new, younger music trends.
Sergio Mendes: Well, I am very curious. I've always been a super curious kind of guy. That's why I left Brazil, and came to America, and began to play with Cannonball Adderly, and other jazz legends here. So, I'm always looking for something different. I love to learn, and travel, and learn about other cultures, and people. Working with young people like Will was fascinating and gives me new energy. It was a pleasure working with John Legend, and India.Arie and everyone on the album.
SoundSlam: Yeah, that's nice to hear. I typically see a pattern of rejection with older people's and younger generation's music(s). In fact, I found it interesting because the term 'Hip Hop," and/or "rap," turn a lot of people off that haven't grown up with it because of negative connotations surrounding the music and culture.I was reading on Brazil66.com in the forums, where a lot of your (older) fans had rejected this album before even listening to it. So what sort of difficulties did you think you'd have to deal with on this record as compared to years past?
Sergio Mendes: Well, first of all, I did the thing, as I told you, because I'm curious and I wanted to learn, and ended up having a ball doing it. I want to do more with will.i.am, and more young artists. So, some fans, not all, might say 'well, we don't like this music,' or ,'we don't like Hip Hop.' But I never paid attention to that. I believe that you have to do what's in your heart. The curious and funny thing about Timeless is that some of my fans that didn't like it were contacting me and saying 'Oh, our kids have bought your album and love it (laughing).' [They] had their kids telling them the album was great. So, if you find older people that aren't open-minded, then you'll get that. But, I think that art should keep moving, and music should keep progressing, and trying different boundaries, and frontiers. If you're gonna do your art just for older people, or whoever, well, I just can't do that. I believe you have to do what's in your heart, and hope that you conquer new fans, and younger people. That's how I think about it anyway.
SoundSlam: And what I find interesting, being a big jazz fan myself, is that many older fans of yours might be forgetting how much jazz changed when they were young. Jazz went from more orchestral jazz in the 20s into ragtime in the 30s before getting into bebop and hard-bop and all the transitions after that.
Sergio Mendes: Yeah, absolutely. I'm a big bebop fan. When you look back and see how Dizzy Dillespie went into Cuba to find those Latin sounds and bring them back to bebop, that just shows how a musician in the 40s that was as curious as I am went out into a different culture to bring something new to the jazz world. Then you have Stan Getz going to Brazil to meet Joabim, and doing the bossa nova. There you go again off that curiosity and that mutual exchange. Now you see me and Will doing this. I think it's pretty much the same vibe.
SoundSlam: Yep, I agree. What future plans, if you can speak on that, do you have?
Sergio Mendes: Well, I'll be doing a lot of promo and press stuff for this album in the next couple months, and then in July I'll be heading to Europe to for all of the big jazz festivals in Paris, London, and much more. And hopefully do album number two with Will because we had a ball. It was a great experience, and he's a great kid and a good, dear friend. I've learned a lot from him.
SoundSlam: Now, this magazine typically covers Hip Hop music and culture. You kind of touched on it, but what would you say to those fans of yours, and the older listeners that have stereotypes about what Hip Hop is?
Sergio Mendes: Grow up! (laughing)
SoundSlam: (laughing) That's great!
Sergio Mendes: No, grow younger. Open your mind, and open your heart, and just let it be. Listen to your kids too, because it also helps. I have a 19-year old, and a 13-year old, so maybe that helps. I have to keep up-to-date with what they're listening to, and they know more about pop music than I do, obviously.
http://soundslam.com/articles/interviews/interviews.php?interviews=in060724_sergio
****************************************
SoundSlam: How have you managed to stay current? You've been a professional musician since the late-1950s, so what path have you taken in order to stay up with contemporary music over all these years? Most people tend to stick with what they know rather than try to dissect new, younger music trends.
Sergio Mendes: Well, I am very curious. I've always been a super curious kind of guy. That's why I left Brazil, and came to America, and began to play with Cannonball Adderly, and other jazz legends here. So, I'm always looking for something different. I love to learn, and travel, and learn about other cultures, and people. Working with young people like Will was fascinating and gives me new energy. It was a pleasure working with John Legend, and India.Arie and everyone on the album.
SoundSlam: Yeah, that's nice to hear. I typically see a pattern of rejection with older people's and younger generation's music(s). In fact, I found it interesting because the term 'Hip Hop," and/or "rap," turn a lot of people off that haven't grown up with it because of negative connotations surrounding the music and culture.I was reading on Brazil66.com in the forums, where a lot of your (older) fans had rejected this album before even listening to it. So what sort of difficulties did you think you'd have to deal with on this record as compared to years past?
Sergio Mendes: Well, first of all, I did the thing, as I told you, because I'm curious and I wanted to learn, and ended up having a ball doing it. I want to do more with will.i.am, and more young artists. So, some fans, not all, might say 'well, we don't like this music,' or ,'we don't like Hip Hop.' But I never paid attention to that. I believe that you have to do what's in your heart. The curious and funny thing about Timeless is that some of my fans that didn't like it were contacting me and saying 'Oh, our kids have bought your album and love it (laughing).' [They] had their kids telling them the album was great. So, if you find older people that aren't open-minded, then you'll get that. But, I think that art should keep moving, and music should keep progressing, and trying different boundaries, and frontiers. If you're gonna do your art just for older people, or whoever, well, I just can't do that. I believe you have to do what's in your heart, and hope that you conquer new fans, and younger people. That's how I think about it anyway.
SoundSlam: And what I find interesting, being a big jazz fan myself, is that many older fans of yours might be forgetting how much jazz changed when they were young. Jazz went from more orchestral jazz in the 20s into ragtime in the 30s before getting into bebop and hard-bop and all the transitions after that.
Sergio Mendes: Yeah, absolutely. I'm a big bebop fan. When you look back and see how Dizzy Dillespie went into Cuba to find those Latin sounds and bring them back to bebop, that just shows how a musician in the 40s that was as curious as I am went out into a different culture to bring something new to the jazz world. Then you have Stan Getz going to Brazil to meet Joabim, and doing the bossa nova. There you go again off that curiosity and that mutual exchange. Now you see me and Will doing this. I think it's pretty much the same vibe.
SoundSlam: Yep, I agree. What future plans, if you can speak on that, do you have?
Sergio Mendes: Well, I'll be doing a lot of promo and press stuff for this album in the next couple months, and then in July I'll be heading to Europe to for all of the big jazz festivals in Paris, London, and much more. And hopefully do album number two with Will because we had a ball. It was a great experience, and he's a great kid and a good, dear friend. I've learned a lot from him.
SoundSlam: Now, this magazine typically covers Hip Hop music and culture. You kind of touched on it, but what would you say to those fans of yours, and the older listeners that have stereotypes about what Hip Hop is?
Sergio Mendes: Grow up! (laughing)
SoundSlam: (laughing) That's great!
Sergio Mendes: No, grow younger. Open your mind, and open your heart, and just let it be. Listen to your kids too, because it also helps. I have a 19-year old, and a 13-year old, so maybe that helps. I have to keep up-to-date with what they're listening to, and they know more about pop music than I do, obviously.
http://soundslam.com/articles/interviews/interviews.php?interviews=in060724_sergio
They're all "cut and paste" press releases sent out by Concord. I know, because I'm one of the 7,114 people getting them, LOL.
inkshield:
" in that post to make it clear I was being sarcastic or at least making a joke. I'm amused your reply came almost three months after my post, though. Hopefully you spent those three months researching the validity of my claims in my original "pedophile" post. 
Pop a Prozac, pour yourself a nice tall Cosmo and chill out! 
