Timeless Timeless
Studio Album by Sergio Mendes released in 2006Studio Album by Sergio Mendes released in 2006
Timeless review
The legendary Brazilian artist makes a Santana-style comeback
For most of the second half of the '60s, Sergio Mendes was the top-selling Brazilian artist in the United States, charting huge hit singles and LPs that regularly made the Top Five. His records with his group Brasil '66 regularly straddled the domestic pop and international markets in America, getting played heavily on AM radio stations, both rock and easy listening. During this period, he also became an international music star and one of the most popular musicians in South America. During the '90s, Mendes performed with a new group, Brasil '99, and more recently, Brasil 2000, and has been integrating the sounds of Bahian hip-hop into his music. This year the legendary Brazilian artist makes Timeless, a Santana-style comeback for his first album in eight years, teaming with the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am and a variety of pop, hip-hop and R&B stars. This one is a great idea. Why not mix ultra-cool Latin Jazz and today’s hottest voices? Recorded in both Brazil and the House of Blues in Encino, the set revisits many Mendes and Brazilian songbook classics and reworks them in the modern beat-driven idiom. Needless to say, the end result is entertaining.
The title track with India.Arie is simply beautiful
That Heat is a reworking of Slow Hot Wind, the Henry Mancini tune Mendes covered. Here Erykah Badu croons in a sultry humid way as will.i.am goes down deep with the rap. Even better is the Baden Powell-Vinicius de Moraes medley of Berimbau - Consolacao. Mendes' Rhodes offers the vamp that the elegant chorus singers – Gracinha Leporace, Debi Nova, and Kleber Jorge – and Mendes groove to. Will.i.am lays down some rather organic-sounding electronic percussion, and Stevie Wonder blows his harmonica over the entire proceeding as Jorge’s guitar strides alongside Mendes’ piano. This may be the best cut on the set. There is a fine case to be made for the humor in The Frog, written by Joao Donato, and originally covered by Mendes. Q-Tip lays down a charming rhyme and Mendes’ Wurlitzer work is killer. Samba da Bencao, with Marcelo D2 and guitars by the Maogani Quartet, is engaging; Mendes’ acoustic piano solo is beautiful, as are the horn charts. The title track with India.Arie is simply beautiful. Aire, with backing vocals by Nova and Leporace and a slinky guitar part by Jorge, makes the tune simply float as Mendes decorates it with Rhodes and synth. Mendes does get away from the splurging vocal guests, specifically during Fo’Hop and Lamento (No Morro).
Timeless is a triumph from start to finish
The odd, yet surprisingly successful combos mix Mendes's bossa nova and samba with equal doses mainstream pop, funky soul, and hard-edged rap, revealing the polymorphous possibilities in the master's sound, and creating an album that is certainly timely, if not timeless. The album's guest stars run the gamut, from old American pros to young Brazilian upstarts. But the album's two best moments come courtesy of two young Americans, John Legend and Justin Timberlake. Please Baby Don't, a Legend tune set to one of Mendes’ signature, laid-back sambas, is a perfect little pop song that truly lives up to the Timeless name, while Timberlake's soulful chorus elevates Loose Ends to a pop/R&B anthem. That both these young singers can slot so effortlessly into the Mendes’ sound is a testament to how effective and broadly appealing it is. Timeless is a triumph from start to finish, and ranks with either artist's best work. It’s a sunny summer beach party of a record, with a warm, sensual vibe that evokes the breezy sound of Mendes' classic Brasil '66 records without ever sounding like a mere rehash or tribute album. Timeless should win Mendes in particular, and Brazilian music in general, a whole new generation of fans.
Timeless review
The legendary Brazilian artist makes a Santana-style comeback
For most of the second half of the '60s, Sergio Mendes was the top-selling Brazilian artist in the United States, charting huge hit singles and LPs that regularly made the Top Five. His records with his group Brasil '66 regularly straddled the domestic pop and international markets in America, getting played heavily on AM radio stations, both rock and easy listening. During this period, he also became an international music star and one of the most popular musicians in South America. During the '90s, Mendes performed with a new group, Brasil '99, and more recently, Brasil 2000, and has been integrating the sounds of Bahian hip-hop into his music. This year the legendary Brazilian artist makes Timeless, a Santana-style comeback for his first album in eight years, teaming with the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am and a variety of pop, hip-hop and R&B stars. This one is a great idea. Why not mix ultra-cool Latin Jazz and today’s hottest voices? Recorded in both Brazil and the House of Blues in Encino, the set revisits many Mendes and Brazilian songbook classics and reworks them in the modern beat-driven idiom. Needless to say, the end result is entertaining.
The title track with India.Arie is simply beautiful
That Heat is a reworking of Slow Hot Wind, the Henry Mancini tune Mendes covered. Here Erykah Badu croons in a sultry humid way as will.i.am goes down deep with the rap. Even better is the Baden Powell-Vinicius de Moraes medley of Berimbau - Consolacao. Mendes' Rhodes offers the vamp that the elegant chorus singers – Gracinha Leporace, Debi Nova, and Kleber Jorge – and Mendes groove to. Will.i.am lays down some rather organic-sounding electronic percussion, and Stevie Wonder blows his harmonica over the entire proceeding as Jorge’s guitar strides alongside Mendes’ piano. This may be the best cut on the set. There is a fine case to be made for the humor in The Frog, written by Joao Donato, and originally covered by Mendes. Q-Tip lays down a charming rhyme and Mendes’ Wurlitzer work is killer. Samba da Bencao, with Marcelo D2 and guitars by the Maogani Quartet, is engaging; Mendes’ acoustic piano solo is beautiful, as are the horn charts. The title track with India.Arie is simply beautiful. Aire, with backing vocals by Nova and Leporace and a slinky guitar part by Jorge, makes the tune simply float as Mendes decorates it with Rhodes and synth. Mendes does get away from the splurging vocal guests, specifically during Fo’Hop and Lamento (No Morro).
Timeless is a triumph from start to finish
The odd, yet surprisingly successful combos mix Mendes's bossa nova and samba with equal doses mainstream pop, funky soul, and hard-edged rap, revealing the polymorphous possibilities in the master's sound, and creating an album that is certainly timely, if not timeless. The album's guest stars run the gamut, from old American pros to young Brazilian upstarts. But the album's two best moments come courtesy of two young Americans, John Legend and Justin Timberlake. Please Baby Don't, a Legend tune set to one of Mendes’ signature, laid-back sambas, is a perfect little pop song that truly lives up to the Timeless name, while Timberlake's soulful chorus elevates Loose Ends to a pop/R&B anthem. That both these young singers can slot so effortlessly into the Mendes’ sound is a testament to how effective and broadly appealing it is. Timeless is a triumph from start to finish, and ranks with either artist's best work. It’s a sunny summer beach party of a record, with a warm, sensual vibe that evokes the breezy sound of Mendes' classic Brasil '66 records without ever sounding like a mere rehash or tribute album. Timeless should win Mendes in particular, and Brazilian music in general, a whole new generation of fans.