Though not any kind of jazz or Brazilian music fan by any stretch, as a kid growing up one of my favorite albums to play from my parents' record collection was Antonio Carlos Jobim's 1967 album "Wave", an album that I feel represents Jobim at his very best (and of which I've talked about here)!
Years later while working at Tower Records, I had a boss whose favorite artist was Jobim and Brazilian music in general, and besides suggesting other terrific Jobim albums (Tide and Stone Flower just to name a few), he asked me if I knew of Sergio Mendez and Brasil 66.
Well, I'd heard of Sergio Mendez, mostly because of his 80's hit "Never Gonna Let You Go", but had not heard of this Brazil stuff at all! Hoping to rectify that at once, he showed up at work the next day with something for me: a CD copy of Sergio Mendez and Brasil 66's Greatest Hits!
I promised to get right on listening to the album as soon as I got home, and what a joy that turned out to be! The collection opened with the awesome "Mas Que Nada", a song that I kind of always knew in the back of my head but never thought about what it was or who sang it. SO! THIS was Brasil 66!!!
But the hits didn't stop there! From that point, track after track I was hit some of the grooviest tunes: With a Little Help from My Friends, Like a Lover, Pretty World, The Look Of Love, etc, til that Greatest Hits package became one of my favorite go-to discs! And from there I ventured further into their back catalog with EQUINOX and FOOL ON THE HILL, and over time have managed to get just about every release of theirs, including CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS which may be my all-time fave album from them!
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| My Brasil 66/Sergio Mendez CDs |
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| Brasil 66 Albums I managed to obtain! |
Sergio Mendez and Brasil 66 has always been a reliable fave to pick out again and re-explore, and I had JUST been going through their catalog once again when I heard the news of Mendez's passing. A truly great artist who will be missed!
