Sergio Mendes
Sergio Mendes
Radio
Biography
One of the leading lights of bossa nova's crossover into America, Sergio
Mendes came of age in an era when Tom Jobim and João Gilberto were leading
Brazil towards international acclaim, and jazz musicians from around the
world were flocking to the South American country for the "new sound of
bossa nova." Heavily influenced by Jobim, Mendes was the best-selling
Brazilian artist in the United States by the mid-1960s. His music took a
turn toward light jazz, and Mendes explored numerous pop hits of the era in
that idiom, including the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" and Simon and
Garfunkle's "Scarborough Fair."