The Salute to Sergio Mendes!

Folha.pdf This is an article (in Portuguese) about Claudio Slon's then current career with Sergio Mendes (Folha de São Paulo, 1975).

Mendes-article.jpg This is a large photo file - over 300k - (text in Portuguese) about Sergio Mendes' personnel from the 1970s.

Solo-in-japan.mp3 (2.5 mb) - This solo is in mono, but is a significant one recorded by Sergio drummer Claudio Slon himself with a small portable tape recorder he put next to his drum set. It was made in the late 1970s in Japan when Claudio performed, recorded and toured with Sergio Mendes. This link above will take you to the place in Claudio's site where the mp3 file resides.

Três raridades de Sérgio Mendes gravadas nos EUA nos 70 aportam aqui dia 20, reeditadas via BMG com produção e minuciosos textos de Arnaldo de Souteiro. Home cooking (1975) conta com Gilberto Gil (vocal e violão) em Emoriô, Hey, people hey (Ê povo ê) e a obscura Cut that out, Hermeto Pascoal (órgão Hammond e flauta), a dupla de trombones Raul de Souza e Frank Rosolino, além de Paulinho da Costa (percussão) e Claudio Slon (bateria). Carlos e Kate Lyra assinam It's so obvious that I love you (Cara bonita) e Kate é parceira de Sérgio na faixa título. Em Sérgio Mendes & The New Brasil 77 (1977), brilha o conviva Stevie Wonder, que toca teclados em várias faixas e fornece os hits Love city e The real thing. A percussão é reforçada por três bateristas (Steve Gadd, entre eles) e sete percussionistas, incluindo Dom Chacal, Laudir de Oliveira, Tião Netto (fora do baixo) e Stevie Forman, um ianque bom de cuíca, além do hit do Chicago If you leave me now. O terceiro é Brasil 88, com Naná Vasconcellos, Nelson Angelo, Ernie Watts, Buddy Shank, Alex Acuña (bateria) e Emil Richards (percussão), arranjos de cordas de Dave Grusin e Dick Hazard. De 26 a 31 de agosto, Sérgio faz temporada com a nova banda Brasil 2002 no Blue Note de Tóquio, promovendo três CDs que só sairão no Japão: País tropical (1970), Stillness (1971) e Live at Expo 70, gravado ao vivo em Osaka.

Bounce-cover.JPG - This is a Japanese magazine cover which contains an article on Sergio's 2002 CD reissues produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro (article below).

Bounce-article.JPG - This is the Japanese article which talks about Sergio's 2002 CD reissues produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro (albums are pictured on the right hand side of the article).

From Seoul, Korea - 2006:

Advertisement of upcoming Sergio concert in Seoul!

From Australia - 2006:

theage.com.au.pdf - A November 10, 2006 article from the Australian press which talks about Sergio touring that country for the first time in 21 years with his new album, Timeless.

From the Concord Music Group Web Site:

Guest Artists Carlinhos Brown, Natalie Cole, Herb Alpert, Lani Hall, Fergie, Juanes, Ledisi, and More Join the Legendary Brazilian Musician on His First Release in Two Years

On June 10th, 2008, Concord Records and Starbucks Entertainment will release Encanto (Enchantment), the newest record from the legendary Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes. Encanto is the follow-up to 2006's highly acclaimed collaboration with will.i.am called Timeless. On Encanto, Sergio takes us even deeper into Brazil recording all the basic tracks in Rio and Bahia, finishing up in Los Angeles. Mendes enlists several guest musicians from all over the world including Latin superstar Juanes from Colombia, multi-talented Carlinhos Brown and Vanessa da Mata from Brazil, the foremost Japanese pop group, Dreams Come True, Belgium's Zap Mama and Italian rapper Jovanotti, as well as American stars like Fergie, Ledisi, Natalie Cole, Herb Alpert and his wife, original Brasil '66 singer, Lani Hall.

Encanto is classic Sergio Mendes, highlighting the maestro's ear for enticing melodies and contagious rhythms. On the new album, Mendes recorded four seminal Antonio Carlos Jobim compositions: a hip-hop version of "Agua De Beber" with Toninho Horta on guitar, Mendes' wife and longtime vocalist Gracinha Leporace, and the man himself showcasing his instrumental chops on a bewitching Rhodes piano solo; "Waters of March," which is features 2006 GRAMMY®-Award nominee Ledisi and is also reprised in French by Afro-European vocal ensemble Zap Mama; "Somewhere In The Hills," with vocals by none other than Natalie Cole; and "Dreamer," which marks the first time that former mentor Herb Alpert joined Sergio on record.

Perhaps the boldest cover on Encanto is a new version of Burt Bacharach's "The Look Of Love," which Mendes had originally transposed to bossa nova heaven in 1967. This new interpretation, produced by Black Eye Pea will.i.am, preserves the alluring melody of the original while bringing the song into the new millennium with crisp drum programming and a sexy rap by Fergie.

"We are delighted to team with Sergio and our partners at Concord Music Group once again to co-release Sergio's latest creation, Encanto," says Ken Lombard, president Starbucks Entertainment. "Sergio Mendes is one of the most internationally successful Brazilian artists of all time and he showed his enduring appeal with Timeless in 2006."

"It's extremely exciting for all of us at Concord to be associated with someone with such timeless appeal and legendary musical vision as Sergio Mendes," says John Burk, Executive VP of A&R at Concord Music Group.

"Every time I make a new record, it's a new adventure," says Mendes. "My main motivation is to record wonderful songs. In the process, I enjoy sharing with the world the diversity of Brazilian music--both in terms of rhythm and melody."

Mendes, who lived in Brazil during the historic era between the late ‘50s and the early ‘60s when the samba-based bossa nova was born, was one the first practitioners of the new genre. Mendes established his legend by taking several albums and singles, such as "Brasil 66," "Mas Que Nada" and his most successful hit, "The Look of Love," to the top of the pop charts throughout the mid 1960s to the late 1970s.

Encanto will be released at Starbucks company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada as well as traditional music retail.

Sergio Mendes will be appearing at the JVC Jazz Festival at Carnegie Hall, New York
on Saturday, June 21, 2008 at 8 p.m.!

Considered one of the most prestigious jazz festivals in the world, the JVC Jazz Festival New York is a two-week jazz celebration that fills New York City's premiere concert halls, intimate clubs, parks, schools and museums with some of the top musical talent in the world. Started in 1972 by George Wein as the Newport Jazz Festival New York, this festival has been sponsored by JVC since 1984 and has become a New York institution. Over the years, New Yorkers have been treated to a world-class event that literally covers the city with great music.