Sergio Mendes Photo by Randee St Nicholas

Mendes formed the Sexteto Bossa Rio and recorded Dance Moderno in 1961. Touring Europe and the United States, Mendes recorded albums with Cannonball Adderly and Herbie Mann and played Carnegie Hall. Mendes moved to the U.S. in 1964 and recorded two albums under the Brasil '65 group name with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records [buy Brasil '65 and The Best of Sergio Mendes & Brasil '65].

When sales were tepid, he replaced his Brazilian born vocalist Wanda da Sah with the distinctive voice of Chicago native Lani Hall (who learned Mendes' Portuguese material phonetically).

Arriving on A&M Records' doorstep in 1966, Sergio Mendes and his group were signed to a record deal by Herb Alpert, whose enthusiastic response enabled their immediate success. Blending Brazilian, jazz and American popular styles, Brasil '66 became known for their unique, innovative sound. While Mendes was the lively pianist, arranger, producer and musical director, it was Chicago-bred vocalist Lani Hall (who would later marry Herb Alpert) who gave the group the finesse that ensured their success on the pop music charts. Lani is equally at home singing in English, Spanish and Portuguese, although you'd never know it from the way she tackles all of her songs with the ease of a native.

After Herb Alpert's A&M label released the first Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 album, it ultimately went platinum based largely upon the success of the single "Mais Que Nada" and the personal support of Alpert, with whom Mendes toured regularly.

The original Brasil '66 lineup, as recorded on the first three A&M albums, consisted of Mendes on piano and keyboards, Lani Hall and Janis Hansen on vocals, Jose Soares on Latin percussion, Bob Matthews on bass and Joao Palma on drums, Tijuana Brass guitarist John Pisano plays guitar starting with Equinox.

Starting with Fool on the Hill, the Brasil '66 lineup would include Mendes, Lani Hall and vocalist Karen Phillips, with a completely new rhythm section consisting of Sebastiao Neto, Dom Um Romao, Rubens Bassini and Oscar Castro Neves. Stillness would be Lani's final album with Brasil '66, leaving to record her first solo project in 1972, Sun Down Lady.

Though his early singles with Brasil '66 (most notably Mas Que Nada) met with some success, Mendes really burst into mainstream prominence when he performed the Oscar nominated Burt Bacharach/Hal David song "The Look of Love" on the Academy Awards telecast in March 1968. Brasil '66's version of the song quickly shot into the top 10, eclipsing Dusty Springfield's version from the soundtrack of the movie, and Mendes spent the rest of 1968 enjoying consecutive top 10 and top 20 hits with his follow-up singles, "The Fool on the Hill" and "Scarborough Fair."

Though he continued to enjoy adult contemporary chart successes with Brasil '66 through 1971, he would not experience the mainstream chart hits he enjoyed in 1968 until his comeback album in 1983 generated the biggest single of his career, "Never Gonna Let You Go." However, from 1968 on, Mendes was arguably the biggest Brazilian star in the world, enjoying immense popularity worldwide and performing in venues as varied as stadium arenas and the White House, where he gave concerts for both President Johnson and President Nixon.

Mendes' career in the U.S. stalled in the mid-70s, but he remained very popular in South America and Japan. His two albums with Bell Records in 1973 and 1974, followed by several for Elektra from 1975 on, found Mendes continuing to mine the best in American pop music and post-Bossa writers of his native Brazil, while forging new directions in soul with collaborators like Stevie Wonder, who wrote Mendes' R&B-inflected minor hit, "The Real Thing."

In 1983, he rejoined Alpert's A&M records and enjoyed huge success with a self-titled album and several follow-up albums, all of which received considerable adult contemporary airplay with charting singles. By the time Mendes released his Grammy-winning Elektra album Brasileiro in 1992, he was the undisputed master of pop-inflected Brazilian jazz.

The late-1990s lounge music revival brought retrospection and respect to Mendes' body of work, particularly the classic Brasil '66 albums.

In 2006, Concord Records and Starbucks Hear Music co-released Timeless.  Produced by and featuring will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, Timeless is a wholly original blend of music. Will and Sergio brought in the Black Eyed Peas, one of hip-hop?s premier artists, and also recruited some of pop music?s biggest artists, each a Sergio fan, to contribute to various tracks, including Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, india.arie, Black Thought of The Roots, John Legend, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, Jill Scott, and Q-Tip, among others.

Sergio describes Timeless, recorded in Brazil and Los Angeles, as a ?. . .wonderful marriage of rhythms, because it?s all African rhythms and haunting melodies?the same common denominator that brought the samba to Brazil and brought jazz to America.?

Will says, ?Hip-hop is urban to America, but samba and bossa nova are urban to Brazil. It?s two urban cultures clashing and fusing together beautifully, because they share a lot of the same qualities.?

Of working with Sergio, Justin Timberlake said, "Sergio's creation of chord progressions has heavily influenced modern R & B, specifically now. He is a legend and a beautiful person. It was a pleasure to work with him.? Black Thought of The Roots adds, ?I?ve had the opportunity to work with just about everyone I?ve desired to work with and now the legendary Sergio Mendes! It was an honor to be able to collaborate with such a cool, unorthodox, timeless and well-rounded musician. He?s quite an inspiration.?

Sergio has previously recorded with will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas on their last two albums as well as their performance together in the 2005 feature film Be Cool. When they first met, Sergio says, ?Will came to my house with a lot of old vinyl that I recorded many years ago. And I was so surprised. It was like, ?Wow!? He knew every song. He knows every Brazilian riff. I could just feel his passion for the music. We talked and I said, ?You know what? You love Brazilian music. Why don?t we bring the Brazilian music and melodies to the hip-hop urban world and put them together? I think we can make something really different.??

[Part of ther biography contains material from Wikipedia].

Dance moderno (1961)

Quiet nights (1963)

Voce Ainda Nao Ouviu Nada! Sergio Mendes & Bossa Rio (Philips, 1963)

The Swinger from Rio (Atlantic SD-1434, 1964)

Bossa Nova York Sergio Mendes Trio (1964)

Cannonball's Bossa Nova with Bossa Rio (1964)

In Person at El Matador -Sergio Mendes & Brasil '65, (Atlantic SD-8112, 1964)

Brasil '65. Wanda de Sah featuring The Sergio Mendes Trio, 1965)

The Great Arrival  (Atlantic SD-1466, 1966)

Herb Alpert Presents Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (A&M SP-4116, 1966)

Equinox  - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (A&M SP-4122, 1967)

The Beat of Brazil  (Atlantic SD-1480, 1967)

Sergio Mendes' Favorite Things (Atlantic SD-8177, 1968)

Look Around - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (A&M SP-4137, 1968)

Fool on the Hill -Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (A&M SP-4160, 1968)

Crystal Illusions - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (A&M SP-4197, 1969)

Ye-Me-Le. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (A&M SP-4236, 1970)

Live at the Expo '70. Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (1970)

Stillness - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (A&M SP-4284, 1971)

Pais Tropical  - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 (A&M SP-4315, 1971)

Primal Roots (a.k.a. Raizes) - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 (A&M SP-4353, 1972)

Love Music - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 (Bell, 1973)

In concert - Sergio Mendes & Brasil' 77 (1973)

Vintage 74 - Sergio Mendes & Brasil' 77 (Bell, 1974)

Sergio Mendes (Warner Bros./Elektra 7E-1027, 1975)

Homecooking  - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 (1976)

Sergio Mendes & the New Brasil 77 (1977)

Brasil 88 (Elektra, 1978)

Pel? - Original Soundtrack (Atlantic SD-18231, 1978)

Magic Lady (1979)

Horizonte aberto (1979)

Sergio Mendes (1983)

Confetti (A&M SP-4984, 1984)

Brasil 86 (1986)

Arara (A&M, 1989)

Brasileiro (Elektra/WEA, 1992)

Oceano (Polygram, 1996)

Timeless Concord Records and Starbucks Hear Music, 2006)

Encanto (Concord Records and Starbucks Hear Music, 2008)