Cortnee
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http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/conversations/stories/s1784841.htm?nsw
Brazilian Sergio Mendes had aspirations towards becoming a classical pianist, but then the bossa nova interrupted, and Sergio was sent on a quite different path. Sergio was playing jazz in nightclubs in the 1950s, and became well-known with his group Brasil '66 in the 1960s. With this group, he had massive hits all over the world - he even played in the White House for Presidents Johnson and Nixon. Now in the 21st century his new album blends bossa nova with hip hop. It's called Timeless.
Sergio was born in Niteroi, Brazil, where he had a quiet upbringing. "It was a very mellow, very quiet town then," Sergio remembers. "Nowadays, there's a bridge - you can drive to Rio. I used to have to take the ferry boat, so it was a distant thing from Rio... I remember playing football on the beach with my friends and then music came in and I had a few bands... then going to Rio and playing in the clubs in Copacabana in the early sixties, and that's when the Bossa Nova came in."
Sergio's early classical training didn't go to waste when he discovered his passion for jazz. "I enjoyed playing classical and I think it helped me a lot," he says, "and when I heard jazz the first time that really took my mind away from the classic. It was kind of boring practising every day, so in one way it gave me the knowledge, and the ability and the opportunity to learn the masters, but what I wanted to play was more into a pop vein and jazz and things like that."
He made Timeless with contemporary artist will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas. "He came to my house one day, because he wanted me to play on his album. I really enjoyed talking to him - he was very knowledgeable about Brazilian music and he had all my old records, so I went to the studio with him and recorded a song and I really enjoyed the experience of working with him, in a totally different environment... and the beats and the loops and all of that, so I told him, 'Why don't we make an album together?'"
Brazilian Sergio Mendes had aspirations towards becoming a classical pianist, but then the bossa nova interrupted, and Sergio was sent on a quite different path. Sergio was playing jazz in nightclubs in the 1950s, and became well-known with his group Brasil '66 in the 1960s. With this group, he had massive hits all over the world - he even played in the White House for Presidents Johnson and Nixon. Now in the 21st century his new album blends bossa nova with hip hop. It's called Timeless.
Sergio was born in Niteroi, Brazil, where he had a quiet upbringing. "It was a very mellow, very quiet town then," Sergio remembers. "Nowadays, there's a bridge - you can drive to Rio. I used to have to take the ferry boat, so it was a distant thing from Rio... I remember playing football on the beach with my friends and then music came in and I had a few bands... then going to Rio and playing in the clubs in Copacabana in the early sixties, and that's when the Bossa Nova came in."
Sergio's early classical training didn't go to waste when he discovered his passion for jazz. "I enjoyed playing classical and I think it helped me a lot," he says, "and when I heard jazz the first time that really took my mind away from the classic. It was kind of boring practising every day, so in one way it gave me the knowledge, and the ability and the opportunity to learn the masters, but what I wanted to play was more into a pop vein and jazz and things like that."
He made Timeless with contemporary artist will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas. "He came to my house one day, because he wanted me to play on his album. I really enjoyed talking to him - he was very knowledgeable about Brazilian music and he had all my old records, so I went to the studio with him and recorded a song and I really enjoyed the experience of working with him, in a totally different environment... and the beats and the loops and all of that, so I told him, 'Why don't we make an album together?'"
