His next group, Brasil ’66, which he formed with the soulful Lani Hall, caught the attention of a new label known as A&M, spearheaded by Herb Alpert (of the Tijuana Brass) and Jerry Moss. His first band, Brasil ’65, despite being warmly received at jazz clubs like Shelly’s Manne Hole, didn’t take off. While Mendes was respected as a well-known musician from Brazil - when he was just 21 years old, he flew out to New York City from Niteroi to perform at a landmark Carnegie Hall concert of Brazilian music - he wasn’t famous when he arrived in L.A. He not only brought Brazilian music to the world but refreshed it with each interpretation, with each cultural encounter. too, collaborating with Italian, French and Japanese musicians. A pianist who’s arranged and produced his songs, he folded Brazilian rhythms and language into American jazz and folk until they became intertwined, part of each other. The best translations don’t erase the original language and culture but rather integrate them into the other. Mendes is among the great translators of sound in recent memory. Translation is a process of illuminating one language and culture through another. “He’s a translator,” says will.i.am, rapper and lead member of the Black Eyed Peas, in a new documentary by John Scheinfeld, “Sérgio Mendes: In the Key of Joy.” “He translated something going on in Brazil to the whole world.” Sure, he didn’t accomplish this change alone, but the legacy he built here, specifically in Los Angeles where he’s now been for most of his life, stands out from his contemporaries. But Brazilians longed for a more nuanced, less stereotyped portrait. Before his arrival, Americans mostly knew the sound of Brazil as Carmen Miranda - and her fruit hats. Mendes helped put Brazilian music on the map in the United States. This story is part of our issue on Remembrance, a time-traveling journey through the L.A. Image Freedom is wearing a hat like Audrey Hepburn
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