DEATH – Brazil mourns its star. Brazilian musician and pianist Sergio Mendes, a bossa nova legend around the world, died at the age of 83 in Los Angeles, his family announced on Friday, September 6.
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Sergio Mendes “died peacefully” Thursday at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his wife and children, his family said in a statement. “In recent months, his health had been affected by the effects of prolonged covid”she said.
It was in 1966 that Sergio Mendes achieved international success with his album Sergio Mendes & Brazil 66 and the famous tube But Nothingan adaptation of a song by Jorge Ben. Since then, he has recorded more than 35 albums and toured with great American artists such as Frank Sinatra.
Known worldwide, the song But Nothing had also experienced a resurgence in popularity in 2006, thanks to an unexpected trio with his wife… and the Black Eyed Peas.
“Rest in peace, dear genius ” wrote on Instagram Milton Nascimento, icon of Brazilian popular music and one of the first celebrities to react to Mendes’ death, saluting “many years of friendship, collaborations and music”. Trumpeter Herb Alpert, who happens to be the boss of his label, also reacted to the news of his death on Facebook, speaking of his ” brother from another country, died quietly and peacefully ».
« He was a true friend and an extremely gifted musician who brought Brazilian music in all its versions to the world with elegance and joy. ” he wrote in this farewell message.
Inexhaustible source
Launched on the Brazilian scene in the early 1960s, at the height of the bossa nova wave, Sergio Mendes quickly rose to fame. His talents as a pianist and composer of arrangements aroused the interest of António Carlos Jobim, a reference in the field.
His mastery of jazz impressed and the American saxophonist Cannonball Adderley chose his group, « Rio Sextet »to save the album « Cannonball’s Bossa Nova » in 1963. Throughout his career, Mendes continued to exploit the inexhaustible vein of captivating music, in which he skillfully mixed the cadence of samba, the groove of jazz, the subtle vocal harmonies of bossa nova and the refinement of Californian pop.
But behind the famous musician and the commercial aspect of his songs, sometimes on the edge of« easy listening »hides an artist endowed with great spontaneity. “The roots of my music are Brazilian. In Brazil, we have a beautiful cultural and musical diversity, between the music of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, classical music, the rhythms of Africa”he recalled in an interview with AFP in 2014.
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