The legendary Brazilian pianist, composer and arranger Sergio Mendeswho died this Friday at the age of 83 in Los Angeles (USA), leaves an indelible mark as the best ambassador of the Brazilian music in the United States.
The song ‘More than anything’, by Jorge Ben Jor and that Mendes covered in the key of bossa novais the song for which he will always be remembered and which made this musical genre fashionable in the United States, the country where he settled in 1964 after leaving his country of origin for the military coup.
Mendes was able to breathe new life into that iconic song in 2006, with the club version which he recorded together with the American group black Eyed Peaswhich was a resounding worldwide success.
Eclectic, known for fusing the bossa nova and the jazzwith more than 30 albums published, won a total of three Grammys and was nominated for six others.
In 2012, he was included in the Hall of Fame of Latin Composers in recognition of his lasting impact on Latin music and his influence on world culture.
His fame was such that he was invited to play for two presidents of the USA in the White HouseLyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.
A pianist who is not at all erudite
Born in 1941 in Niteróia neighboring city of Rio de Janeiroand trained as a classical pianist, Mendes decided to move away from the erudite to approach more contemporary genres and fuse Brazilian and North American influences in his work.
Mendes became one of the main exponents of the modernizations of the bossa novafor his arrangements with the piano, an instrument with which he created harmonic innovations for this musical genre.
In the early 1960s, together with other colleagues of the time, Mendes established the “sambalanço“, a way of playing bossa nova inventive way that emerged in the nightclubs of Copacabanain Rio de Janeiro.
Behind him military coup In 1964, he was forced to exileHe was arrested, even though politics never had a place in his lyrics.
So he took up residence in California. This move was a turning point in his career, since in the United States he enriched his music with the influence of jazz.
The United States also provided him with a new audience for whom he became the most representative face of the Brazilian musicwhich he gave an international touch that appealed to the American public.
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With his recordings, he gave a wider audience and projection to artists such as Dori Caymmi, Tom Jobimor Gilberto Gil.
Over the past three decades, he has made countless collaborations with renowned artists such as Justin Timberlake, John LegendErykah Badu or black Eyed Peasor the Brazilian Carlinhos Brownwith which he managed to reach younger audiences by reinterpreting classic songs and popular Brazilian rhythms.
In a six-decade career, Mendes recorded more than 35 albums, several of which achieved gold or platinum sales. He won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for a Oscar for the theme of the animated film ‘Rio’.
