A Conversation with Sérgio Mendes – HuffPost 9.9.14

Mike Ragogna: Sérgio, your new album is titled Magic. What kind of magic went into creating and choosing the material as well as recording it?

Sérgio Mendes: Well, the whole process for me was very magical. I call this projectThe Magic of Encounters. I think it has to do with our lives as well, because when I think about my life, my whole journey, to still be making music with incredible people and to be performing, that’s kind of magical. So this album was like that. To write songs with people like John Legend and Maria Gadú and Janelle Monae and will.i.am again… It’s really the beautiful encounters that I’ve had all my life, going back to 1962 when I came to Carnegie Hall for the bossa nova concert, meeting Antônio Carlos Jobim, doing an album with Cannonball Adderley, touring with Frank Sinatra, doing specials with Fred Astaire, all of those things have been for me the magic of the encounter. I think it’s a beautiful way to describe my life. This album is about that.

MR: You’ve released quite a few albums over the last decade.

SM: I think maybe as you get older, your passion increases.

MR: Do you feel that your passion for making music has grown over the years?

SM: I hope so, because making this album was such a wonderful project in my life, to be able to do that, to work with all these people, to collaborate, to travel to Bahia, to Rio De Janaeiro, here in LA, to be able to have these encounters with so many great people that I admire and I love, of course the passion is there on every song and every thing that’s on this album.

MR: Yeah, and I believe you brought it out of the artists, too, especially John Legend and Janelle Monae. It sure seems like you brought the “Brazilian” out in them.

SM: Well, you’re talking about two great international musicians and singers. When I wrote the melody here on my piano and sent it to John Legend, he immediately replied, “Oh, I love this melody, I want to write lyrics and sing it.” So the magic was also there, in the whole process. He came here to L.A, went to the studio and wrote this lyric in an hour and a half. I was watching and I said, “Oh my God, that’s so beautiful,” and we got into the booth and performed the song. Same thing with Janelle Monae. It was just one of those wonderful encounters. It feels very Brazilian. They love that kind of music, that kind of mood. For me, they represent the young generation. John Legend is an incredible singer, so is Janelle, and it’s fresh and it’s different. I’m in love with it.

MR: The album also features many Brazilian artists as well, including Maria Gadú.

SM: Maria Gadú is young, she’s twenty-seven years old, she’s an upcoming Brazilian singer, and she plays the guitar. We got together in the studio and said, “Let’s write a song,” and we wrote this song [“Meu Rio”], which was great. Same thing with Milton Nascimento, my old friend, and Gracinha, my wife, sings a couple of songs. And Seu Jorge who’s another great Brazilian artist. It’s a wonderful party, getting together with all of those people and coming up with something that’s happy and sunny and celebratory and hopefully has great melodies. That’s what I love. That’s the most important thing for me.

MR: When you look at your last few albums, you’re mixing contemporary sounds with Brazilian music. How are you relating to recording with modern approaches versus when you first started recording?

SM: It’s interesting that you asked me that. My first band was in the bossa nova period in Brazil. Bossa nova, which was a wonderful period of Brazilian music, was very minimalist. It was something very simple–guitar and vocals. If you hear the João Gilberto albums, it’s something very minimalist. I had this idea of coming out with an instrumental album. I had two trombones and a tenor saxophone. That was a very bold thing to come up with. It was a spicy version of a bossa nova. I’m very curious and I like to do things that are different. That, for me, was my first experience saying, “Okay, this is bossa nova time, but instead of acoustic guitar, I want to bring some drums and bass. Of course, I was listening to a lot of jazz–a lot of Horace Silver–so that was a big influence in my time. That was then. We were like the exception during the bossa nova period, doing something that was very bold and different. That gave me a lot of pleasure. Same thing now. When I sit down with will.i.am, he’s a master of coming up with grooves and great ideas. Working with a young musician from another generation, another culture, we get together, and I write a melody or play a chord and we just get along fantastically. I think it’s the mutual curiosity that brings us together.

MR: Are you keeping an eye on what’s happening in Brazilian music these days?

SM: I’m constantly getting records from Brazil. Once a year I go down there, I usually spend time down there in December and January for Christmas time. That’s when I saw Maria Gadú two years ago, that’s when I heard Sea Jorge and said, “Wow, this would be amazing. Maybe when I make my next record, I’ll invite them to be a part of it.” Not to be contemporary or this or that. A good example on this album, Milton Nascimento is from my generation. It’s just to have exciting things that we can share, that will bring some great melodies. For me, that’s the joy of this whole process.

MR: I bet part of the joy might also be having your wife sing on the album. How is still making music with Gracinha after all these years?

SM: The first time she sang on my record was in 1968, it was Brasil ’66. She’s been singing on every album. She has a very unique voice. We travel together, she’s in my band, she teaches all my singers to sing in Portuguese. It’s a great collaboration.

MR: Do you see yourself working with these guest artists again in the future?

SM: Well, I hope so. My ears and my heart are always open for that kind of musical experience. It’s a pleasure for me to collaborate with them. I absolutely hope so. I don’t have any plans with them, I just finished the album, so I’m now in the process of performing and promoting the record, but it was really an incredible experience for me to be able to have all those people that I adore and write songs with them and be on this album. That’s what the magic is about.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

SM: I take one thing at a time. I don’t make any future plans. I’ve been very blessed and lucky to have a long career and to be still playing music that I love. That’s what I love to do, performing and travelling and to make an album like this is wonderful for me. I’m lucky and blessed.

MR: Is that something you wish for new artists?

SM: Yes. I think those two components are very important. I think I always was very curious from a very young age. I think the curiosity will bring you through the learning process. I love to learn new things. I didn’t speak English before I left Brazil. Now I speak English, I speak a little French, a little Italian, and Spanish. I think the curiosity took me places that I think I wouldn’t have been if I wasn’t that curious. I would say to a young musician, “Be curious, learn, practice, try different things and enjoy life,” which I do.

MR: Beautiful. When you look at music right now, what are your thoughts?

SM: I think when you look at the internet today, you can hear music from all over the world, especially if you turn to YouTube or something like that. You can connect with people in India, Africa, Brazil… That kind of information, we didn’t have it before. I remember when I heard my first jazz records in Brazil, it was very hard to get them down there. An American jazz record was a precious thing to have. Now you turn on your computer and you know what’s happening in Tokyo and Rio. I think that’s an amazing thing and I think that’s why people are much more tuned in to what’s happening in the world today. Not only music, but literature, art, cinema and everything else. I think it’s wonderful. It’s no longer something too precious that you can’t have. Right now, the information is there and it’s up to you and your curiosity and your courage to go ahead and do your thing.

MR: What’s the future beyond this album? What do you still need to accomplish?

SM: I like writing songs, which I did on this album much more than on my previous albums. I’d like to continue to do that, and to collaborate with the other artists who would like to write songs with me. That’s one thing I want to do. I worked on the music for Rio and Rio 2, which was another fantastic experience–working on the movie with Carlos Saldanha, the Brazilian director. The movie was a big success, so that’s something else. The movies is something else I’d like to do. I’m open for new ideas, just call me, I’ll be there.

MR: You know what my fantasy project would be for you? You recording an album with Herb Alpert.

SM: Why not? He’s a dear friend. We see each other in L.A, we both live here and he was responsible for beginning my career. He married one of my singers from Brasil ’66, Lani Hall. If he has an idea, I’m ready.

MR: Hopefully, this gets the word out to him! One last question about Magic. Is there a particular song on this album that resonates with you the most?

SM: You know, for each song, there’s a different story. The one with John Legend, of course, I love that song very much. The Maria Gadú, the Janelle Monae… There’s one song on the album, it’s called “Sou Eu,” which means, “It’s Me.” I learned that song fifty-five years ago with my music teacher in Brazil. His name was Marcelo Santos. That’s one of the first songs I learned. He was a very, very big influence in my life. He passed away. To do that song fifty-five years later with a young singer like Seu Jorge in a contemporary way is a very adventurous thing for me. I love that song very much and it has a very special place in my heart.

Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne