Sergio Mendes Music

These tunes take you to a different time and place yet still feel contemporary. If you are interested in the sounds of Brazil, Sergio Mendes definitely provides plenty of material. So sit down or stand with the beautiful people, make some caparinias, enjoy the conversation, and let Sergio Mendes take you away.

Oh yes, have someone else start the barbeque!

This album is junk. One or two good tunes, the rest junk. Save your money!

Except for Sergio's presence, these three albums have little in common. Most enjoyable for me is the live performance by Brasil '65, which is just plain, honest music. The Pele soundtrack is, well, a soundtrack and full of Hollywood mush. By the time we get to "My Favorite Things," Sergio's spare piano is lost in a soup of arrangement styles that were popular in the '60s. Listen to it as a '60s setpiece. Once in awhile Sergio comes up for air and it's bliss, but this has not aged well and wasn't worth much when it was new 35 years ago, IMHO. Buy "Beat of Brazil" and "Swinger from Rio" to hear the real Sergio.

I have to totally disagree with the previous reviewer; this 3CD compilation is an absolute knock out for those who really know.
1) First of all, these three CDs separately have been Out Of Print for ages and are almost impossible to get; but here you have them at a fantastic affordable price.
2) Second, for those who really know Sergio Mendes' work and have a collection of his, this compilation is a true treasure; and...
3)Third, Sergio's Music around that time was already in high demand, and here you have collaborations with people like Wanda Sah, Oscar Castro-Neves, Gerry Mulligan, Laudir de Oliveira, Dave Grusin, Tom Scott, John Pisano, Joao Donato, Moacir Santos, Dom Um Romao and Pele among many more.
Only for educated ears and educated and serious collectors, period.

This 3-LP compilation is a must-have for fans of Mendes, as well as those who love music with a Latin flair. Disc One consists of, as the title suggests, a live performance at San Francisco's El Matador club and the soundtrack to a film about fellow Brazilian the legendary soccer great Pele. Both exhibit Mendes masterful piano playing and superb vocals from the members of Brasil '65, '66, '67, respectively. These long out-of-print releases are a welcome addition to any music-lovers' collection.

But, it is disc two, "Sergio Mendes' Favorite Things" that is the real find. Featuring Mendes's trademark arrangements, the disc soars, as it is an instrumental journey into the sultry music that typified the decade. Highlights are "My Favorite Things, " "I Say a Little Prayer," the Dionne Warwick hit, "Comin' Home Baby," and "Boa Palavra (The Good Word)."

Should Mike Myers decide to have his alter-ego "Austin Powers" take another trip back to groovy days of the late 60's, this will be the perfect music with which he can travel.

Sergio returns to his roots (as in The Swinger from Rio) with this live concert date, apparently from 1988. Sadly, the recording sounds almost like a bootleg, complete with distortion from time to time. As you see from the song list, he's playing mostly from the Great American Songbook, with his usual jazz-bossa approach. (Sometimes it sounds like he's channeling Vince Guaraldi, which is not a bad thing.) He's accompanied by a strong rhythm section and two uncredited wind players, a reed/flute player and trombonist. I like this album, despite the poor audio and lousy liner notes. For instance, as you can guess, cut #11 is actually Nica's Dream (Horace Silver). As a bonus, the last cut is the original Brasil '66 version of Mas Que Nada and has no connection with the rest of the album.

Essentially, Mendes captures the best of the oddly complex, yet deceptively simple, emotions of the 60's with his Latin tones and international rhythms. "Scarborough Fair", for example, never sounded better--with all due respect to the original duo, of course. "The Look of Love" is another track that touches chords of heart and song that could be woven into the sound track of any movie and complement romantic images of the trash and truth of a New York City street scene (anyone of a million already out there or being dreamed up as this is being written), or create an uneasy current of sweet underscoring as the ironic sadness of a jungle war scene swayed to Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" in "Good Morning, Viet Nam!"

Unfortunately, the Broadway and Beatles bits, and some of the other basic stuff Sergio does, can stay trapped in the dust-covered sound systems of those ancient, smokey-smelling elevators, no?

No matter. Mendes can still draw magic from the emotional memory. May still do so for many more years to come. Enjoy then and now, and everything between, with a little of this "Essential Mendes" magic.

You heard the Mas Que Nada rap version?.........and thought: Hey I recognise that sound, but then: It used to sound smoother and without the rap crap?! Well, good! Welcome to the original recording of mas que nada, and many more top songs from Sergio and his gang. This album will last a life time without boring you, and it is as smooth as the brazilian coffee!

This great music. It is wonderful to have the old music re-issued on such a pristine format. What a fabulous way to bring out music from the 60's

If you like Bossa Nova and Sergio Mendes, DONT'T HESITATE to get this CD! It is very comprehensive with all the most beautiful songs in one package. The recording is excellent - clear, warm and dynamic. Forget about all the other albums - trust me. Enjoy!

This album is one of the best compilation of Sergio Mendes music.
It brings back a lot of memories, beautifully. A sure must for collectors.

This is Sergio before Brasil 65/66 and I would consider them two different sounds. I would describe it simply as Latin Jazz, very good Latin Jazz. Lots of recognizable tunes here. Segio is an icon and should be in everybody's collection. Recommended if you are buying it for the Jazz and not recommended if you think you are getting more Brasil 65/66.

Sergio Mendes is one of those rare Brazilian artists who plays very well on both shores. This CD contains 2 albums from his Brazilian output. You should know that the album here contained "The Beat of Brazil" was originally entiled "Você Ainda Não Ouviu Nada". Furthermore, you should know this is considered the best of all Mendes' output by Brazilian serious reviewers and musicians. Here @ Amazon, you'll also find Sergio Mendes samba (not jazzy) from his Brazil'66 efforts and I would not keep myself on a radical point-of-view of discarding them: it is very good samba too, though not jazzy. If I had to choose, I'd pick'em all. This CD is essential to serious Bossa Nova collectors. All stars.

Forget Brasil '66 and all those awful Beatles covers. This disk holds Sergio's two best albums with instrumental cuts melding bossa nova with straight ahead bop. "Swinger" is a mostly pensive set with great sidemen such as Art Farmer, Hubert Laws, and Phil Woods. For "Beat" Sergio assembles a powerful sextet and lets things rip. Ela e Carioca is like nothing you've heard, and here's the all-time best arrangement of Desafinado (except possibly for Herbie Mann at Newport '65). Only downside is the pathetic edit of Corcovado, but you'll be bothered only if you've heard the orignal vinyl cut.

Based on the musical quality and added value of receiving two albums on one cd I would give this a 5 star rating. Where the quality is lacking is in the poor cd re-mastering which is prevalent on most of the re-issues released by this record label. They have a dry, brittle character which sounds artificial. Although The Swinger... boasts jazz heavyweights Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Hubert Laws, and Brazilian master A.C. Jobim himself on guitar, I prefer The Beat Of Brazil. The warm soulful sound of trombones and tenor sax combined with the upbeat arrangements is hard to beat.

This compilation set features the talents of Sergio's Bossa Rio Sextet recorded in Brazil. To borrow a phrase from a Brazilian journalist I highly respect, this group "is tight and swinging" from the first opening bars to the last.

Unfortunately, this group only recorded a few albums in Brazil ("The Beat of Brazil" LP actually is a U.S. reissue of the Philips Brasil "Sergio Mendes and Bossa Rio" LP). We deserved to hear more from these great jazzmen, all of them.

Antonio Carlos Jobim himself did the arrangement for "Ele e Carioca" on the "Beat of Brazil" LP!

If you are a jazz fan and want to hear good solid arrangements and first class jazz piano playing by Sergio, be sure to pick up this compilation, it will not disappoint.

Although I'm not one to write reviews, I figured I'd write one about this cd. Joe Pizzulo has never released a solo album here in the U.S. that I have heard of. This cd remedies that. Although the musicians are from the Philippines and this cd was recorded for the Philippine Market to tie in with his appearance with Teri DeSario back in 2005. The songs are terrific and also his duets with the Filipino singers such as Nina, who's known as "The Soul Diva" are excellent.

Also just want to endorse that the seller CDBIN is very helpful and I'd order from them again.

Having seen this group live in 1968 or 1969(on tour behind the album "Fool on The Hill"). I knew what to expect. This is a stripped-down approximation of the records, without the horns, strings, electric piano & other embelishments present on the studio recordings. The instrumental backing is acoustic piano,bass,drums & percussion.
It should be remembered that 38 years ago, live concerts didn't have the sophisticated on-stage monitoring systems that musicians have today, and with vocalists Lani Hall & Karen Phillip at opposite ends of the stage, it is inevitable that they would occasionally go out of synchronization. Still,it's quite impressive how matched in timbre the two ladies are.
This was probably a typical Brasil '66 show. No doubt there were better shows, but this one is the only one known to have been recorded. The album grows on you, and the recording quality is good. The one thing that grates on my nerves is several sour piano notes(tuning problems?) from Sergio's piano on "The Fool On The Hill".

There are some great moments of Sergio's piano playing with the band.

There are some great moments of Sergio's virtuoso piano playing and jams with the band, but I really wanted to hear Lani Hall & Karen Phillip singing live. They are all over the place!! None of those perfect streamlined harmonies of the studio albums. It's like they were on different stages at different times. Now I have to beleive their television appearances back then were lip-synched. There is a Live At The Hollywood Bowl album with Brasil '77 & different singers that is much better.

Having seen this group live in 1968 or 1969(on tour behind the album "Fool on The Hill"). I knew what to expect. This is a stripped-down approximation of the records, without the horns, strings, electric piano & other embelishments present on the studio recordings. The instrumental backing is acoustic piano,bass,drums & percussion.
It should be remembered that 38 years ago, live concerts didn't have the sophisticated on-stage monitoring systems that musicians have today, and with vocalists Lani Hall & Karen Phillip at opposite ends of the stage, it is inevitable that they would occasionally go out of synchronization. Still,it's quite impressive how matched in timbre the two ladies are.
This was probably a typical Brasil '66 show. No doubt there were better shows, but this one is the only one known to have been recorded. The album grows on you, and the recording quality is good. The one thing that grates on my nerves is several sour piano notes(tuning problems?) from Sergio's piano on "The Fool On The Hill".

There are some great moments of Sergio's piano playing with the band.

There are some great moments of Sergio's virtuoso piano playing and jams with the band, but I really wanted to hear Lani Hall & Karen Phillip singing live. They are all over the place!! None of those perfect streamlined harmonies of the studio albums. It's like they were on different stages at different times. Now I have to beleive their television appearances back then were lip-synched. There is a Live At The Hollywood Bowl album with Brasil '77 & different singers that is much better.

It's a product that anybody that like to hear a good brazilian musician should buy and, the important thing, it's a rare CD.
Buy it and enjoy it a lot.

Gustavo Pugliesi

thank you so much for remastering this classic. in 1968, in the midst of hard rock and intense soul music, this
masterpiece emerged. every song speaks to the humanity of life and love. it takes you through every mood,
soothes as well as excites. i feel so lucky to have lived during such a vital musical era, and i feel this album was
and still is one of the most significant ever.

This cd with the acception of With a Little Help From My Friends and the even more watered down Like A Lover, is a classic. The Frog is by far the album's highlight and is sophistocated bossa nove(Brazilian jazz), tje rest of the album is more or less superior bossa nova, some more on the jazz side, some on the pop(Friends and Lover) side. The album has a nice flow and the songs sung in Portuguese are usually the highlights, however The Look of Love is a lounge classic. This is a great cd for smokin' big ole' cigars to. I recently enjoyed a Phillies Blunt Banana flavored cigar to this, it went perfectly.

For anyone who remembers this group, this is a great CD. Timeless in my opinion.

I first heard this music in the '60's when it came out. I loved it then, and I love it now. I am so happy to have this music back in my life.