ENCANTO Press

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Steve Sidoruk

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'I'm a bebop baby'

By Don Albert

Sergio Mendes is a musical magician. He has managed to take a hit he had in the '60s, dress it up with today's rhythms and maintain his basic Latin beat. He pulled in the Black Eyed Peas and WHAM, the result is Mas Que Nada, and it is a huge hit once again.

Mendes's roots are in Brazilian music and jazz. He said: "When I first heard jazz at the age of 12 I was enchanted by it. I heard records by Horace Silver and Bud Powell, they were a big influence in my life.

"When I got to New York I recorded with Herbie Mann and Cannonball Adderley. It was a wonderful experience. I'm a big jazz fan, a bebop fan. I'm a bebop baby."

He moved from his home in Brazil in the mid '60s and settled in the US. After leading various bands, his big break came when Herb Alpert, who was starting A&M Records at the time, recorded Mendes and called the band Brasil '66. Besides Alpert's Tijuana Brass, Brasil '66 became one of the most recognisable sounds of its time, especially with such hits as Mas Que Nada and The Look of Love.

Not one to stand still, Mendes moves with the times, and, without losing the Brazilian samba rhythms, he has combined it with hip-hop, rap and drum-programming. He also invited some of the biggest names in the industry including US, Brazilian and various European artists as guests. The result challenges comparison. A listen to his CD Timeless has brought great music to the masses. His new CD, Encanto, due out soon, takes the music a step further.

Guest artists include Fergie, whose contemporary version of The Look of Love promises to put it into the charts. Will.i.am, Ledisi, Natalie Cole and Zap Mama are included and Lani Hall, of Brasil '66 fame, along with trumpeter Alpert are superb on Dreamer.

Mendes says: "I wanted to go full circle. I asked Herb if he'd like to play on my new album and he said he'd love to, so it was very beautiful, very spontaneous. We did it in an afternoon."

I asked him what was behind his thinking, of what I would call, Brazil meets hip-hop. "My whole idea was to reintroduce some of those great songs to a younger generation. Kids who never heard Mas Que Nada in '66 can now hear these songs in a contemporary way, so there is really a collaborative thing with many guests, plus, bringing things together of today, like hip-hop and rap, but it's still about Brazil, and Brazilian music. I'm so happy that, 40 years later, Mas Que Nada has become a big hit again.

The band he'll be bringing to Cape Town comprises three singers, including his wife, Gracinha, two percussionists, a drummer, bassist and guitarist, a synthesiser player and a rapper. What will they play?

"It will be a musical journey. Brazilian music, of course, going back to Brasil '66 to Timeless and a few things from the new CD."

This will be the first time he'll be officially playing in SA. Last time he was here he played Sun City for a private affair. He sounds excited about this trip. "I'm really looking forward to playing in South Africa. We'll do two concerts, but I'm going to be there a couple of days before. I'm hoping to meet people, see the city (Cape Town) and listen to some music and enjoy myself."

When I talked to him he was in Paris and had just toured Japan, after which he was going to tour Germany, Britain and Italy. Then it's off to Brazil to make a video of one of the songs off the new CD, and then to Cape Town. "I keep working, travelling and making music."

His parting words were: "I hope the public will come in and join the party and have fun."

Sergio Mendes, Cape Town International Festival, March 27 and 29.

Published on the web by Tonight on March 12, 2008.
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© Tonight 2008. All rights reserved.

http://www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4299964&fSectionId=449&fSetId=251
 
Very good video. Notice the Starbucks logo at the beginning. So it looks like ENCANTO will be promoted there after all. That's good.
 
The Concord Music description (over on the right of the youtube page) mentions an international release on April 7th and a US release on June 10th, holding with the date posted on the Concord website.

Another mention of the youtube link is appropraite here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ylEhzVUAYGA

I spotted that Starbucks Entertainment logo right away too, so in a way that's a good thing. Marketing the album there can only be a plus.

Harry
 
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