What makes Sergio Mendes timeless

One of my favorite albums is Timeless by Sergio Mendes. Produced by Sergio and will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, the CD is made up of songs popularized by Sergio and his band but interpreted in a different way by other artists. It is more than a greatest hits collection. 

Timeless is the sort of album that gets you asking, “Why?” and “What for?’ and then gets you saying an adoring “Wow” as you savor one great cut after cut after cut. It is quite a production with superb musicianship, amazing technical know-how and so much attention to detail. Best of all, there is not one bad track. 

The Black Eyed Peas got to do Sergio’s first big hit Mas Que Nada. John Legend had Please Baby Don’t. There are also Loose Ends by Justin Timberlake, Pharoahe Monch and will.i.am; Timeless by indie.arie; Berimbau and Consolacao by Stevie Wonder and Gracinha Leporace, who is married to Sergio; That Heat by Erykah Badu and lots more.

Years after Timeless was released in 2006, I still get a kick out of analyzing how the familiar songs were crimped, twisted, dipped in jazz, hip-hop or soul or whatever. But they all still emerged beautiful and, of course, timeless.

The Timeless CD introduced Sergio to a new, young batch of music lovers. It made his music from the ’60s and ’70s cool again. But though the album is excellent work and did prove his music timeless, two previous generations of fans still say that nothing beats the originals.

And those are what they expect to hear when Sergio Mendes & the Brasil 2012 perform in Live in Manila at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City on April 24. Tickets are now available at Ticketnet both online and at the SM Department Stores and also at the Smart Araneta Coliseum box office.

Watch Brasil 2012 go samba with Mas Que Nada, Constant Rain (Chove Chuba), Pretty World, Fool On The Hill, Night And Day, Alibis, Scarborough Fair, For Me, The Look Of Love, Never Gonna Let You Go, Rainbow’s End and Olympia.

Then get a load of the swoony ballads that I know has filled many personal soundtracks these past years. The Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye, What Do We Mean To Each Other, Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing, If I Ever Lose This Heaven, Going Out Of My Head, Put A Little Love Away, Waiting For Love, Waters Of March, Please Baby Don’t, So Many Stars, Voce Abuso, Like A Lover, Love City, Bridges, Funky Bahia and many others.

Now take note of the name, Sergio Mendes & Brasil 2012. A long time ago, it was Brasil 65, as in 1965. That was when Sergio then fresh from his native Brazil was just starting his career in the US and had formed his own group. The original idea was for the band’s name to be changed yearly. So, there was later a Brasil 66. Do not think though that there was a Brasil 67, 68, 69, etc. since. The 66 proved to be so successful, that they would remain Sergio Mendes & the Brasil 66 for many years.

The band consisted of the would-be big stars line-up of vocalists Lani Hall, Bivi Vogel and later Janis Hansen; bassist Bob Matthews; Jose Soares on percussion; Joao Palma on drums; John Pisano on guitar; and Sergio on piano. They would come to define the soft, easy and sexy blend of Latin jazz and pop that people still refer to as Brasil 66 to this day. 

Sergio now has a Brasil 2012. We do not know if there is a Lani Hall or another Bob Matthews in the batch but all of us can be sure they will perform all the Sergio Mendes songs in the way just like we remember at the Big Dome show.

By the way, Brasil 2012 is not all that Sergio has been busy with these recent times. He remains very active as a musician. One recent effort was the soundtrack of the animated feature Rio. He performed the always timeless Mas Que Nada for the movie and also composed and performed three new songs, Valsa Carioca, Copacabana Dreams and Real In Rio, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.