photo by Chris McGowan
In 1992, I was invited by Elektra Records to write the liner notes for the Sérgio Mendes album
Brasileiro, which was unlike anything he had ever done.The trademark Sérgio Mendes sound (upbeat, with female voices singing in unison) was there but it was mixed together with the idiosyncratic Carlinhos Brown from Bahia, who
contributed five songs and was the cornerstone of the album, three great
Brazilian songwriters (Ivan Lins, Guinga, and João Bosco), and the instrumental
wizard Hermeto Pascoal and his band O Grupo. Plus the 15-member Bahian
percussion group Vai Quem Vem and a hundred drummers and percussionists from
the top Rio escolas de samba (samba schools) were there to keep things cooking.
I
showed up one morning at Mendes' home in Encino. We sat down and had
coffee, and Sérgio put a
Brasileiro demo CD onto the high-end stereo system in
his den. I was expecting to hear a smooth pop rendition of a Brazilian standard
or a recent American hit. Instead, something else entirely blasted out of
Sérgio's audiophile speakers.
Brasileiro opens with "Fanfarra"
(Fanfare). The "call" of a lone soloist on repique (tenor drum) is
answered by the thundering "response" of a hundred rhythmic masters
from Mangueira, Portela, and other escolas. We were listening at high volume
and the batucada (percussion jam), once it kicked in, was powerful,
overwhelming. I had heard recordings of many samba schools before, but none
with such high fidelity. They often sounded busy and muddy. Here you can hear
the samba instruments clearly. The batucada stops and a Carlinhos Brown samba
de roda ("Cabua-Le-Le") starts. We hear Alceu do Cavaco's cavaquinho
and a female chorus. Then the batucada begins again and continues underneath
the Brown song, merging with it. The female singing is rather cloying, yet the
song works. It is an original and appealing proposition: a meeting of Rio's
escolas, Afro-Bahian music, and Sérgio Mendes. All bolstered by
state-of-the-art recording technology.
Carlinhos Brown and Sérgio Mendes
The
rest of the album is also innovative and full of surprises, for the most part.
I was delightfully surprised, even though Sérgio's hallmark sound—two women singing the
lead vocals in unison—could have been used less, especially on Ivan Lins'
"Sambadouro" and "Kalimba" (admittedly, those songs might
be what many of his old fans like best on this album). And many songs have
smooth-jazz underpinnings by Mendes's L.A. studio musicians: Jeffrey Porcaro
(drums), Nathan East (bass), and Paul Jackson Jr. (guitar). They are extremely
competent studio players, but their slickness gives the music a gloss it
doesn't need. The album works best when the studio guys are on the sidelines,
such as on the opening number, or when the playing of others predominates. For
example, Vai Quem Vem and Brown's percussion is the heart of
"Indiado." And "Senhoras do Amazonas" has Porcaro on drums,
but Bosco (guitar and vocals) and Arthur Maia (bass) drive the music. The
opening of "Fanfarra/Cabua-Le-Le," Brown's "Magalhena" (a
fusion of northeastern and Bahian music), the Bahian rap "What is
This?," and Pascoal's "Pipoca" and Guinga's "Chorado"
have a minimum of "Brasil '66" moments. On the whole, Brasileiro is full of a surprising number of creative
risks.
This
was a rare case in which one of Sérgio's albums had such a strong imprint of
another musician – in this case, Carlinhos Brown (the other major example being
his collaboration with will.i.am on Timeless). Carlinhos wrote five of the record's songs, singing on four of them,
and the Carmen Alice tune "What is This?" bore his undeniable
influence. And five of the record's songs feature the percussion of Brown and
Vai Quem Vem, a group formed of former students in a percussion school that he
founded in Salvador. For half the album, Brasileiro is a joint venture by Sérgio and Carlinhos, which was essential to its
success. Brasileiro went on to win
the 1993 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album. It may not have sold as well
as Mendes' bigger albums, but it earned him credibility with many discerning
fans of Brazilian and World music. It has remained my favorite of his albums.
Besides
writing the liner notes, I also got to "coach" Sérgio as he shot
video promos for the album. I sat next to the camera in his backyard and
prompted him with questions; his answers were edited and used for promotional
purposes. I had the sense he didn't realize what an original album he'd
produced. Here is the 1992 interview we did that I used to write the liner
notes.
Chris: Where did
you record the album?
Sérgio: We
recorded the basic tracks in Brazil at PolyGram Studios and Som Livre Studios.
We did the overdubs and mixing here in Los Angeles. We were five months in
Brazil and seven months here. It was the hardest I've ever worked on an album.
I wanted to do it really well, the right way.
Chris: What was
the point of the album? What were you trying to do?
Sérgio: I tried
to have a nice variety, of everything I love about Brazilian music. I wanted to
explore a wide variety of the incredible spectrum of rhythms and percussion,
melodies and chants in Brazilian music. I had always wanted to do something
completely Brazilian and so this project came totally from the heart. It's
totally authentic.
Chris: Were you
influenced at all by Paul Simon's use of Olodum (the bloco afro from Bahia) on The Rhythm of the Saints?
Sérgio: It's
different from what people like Paul Simon or David Byrne have done. These are
Brazilian songs and Brazilian songwriters. They're not American melodies with
Brazilian rhythms. I didn't want to do a safari. I wanted to be involved
putting together the whole thing, from arranging to playing on it to producing.
I wanted to do a great presentation, from the heart.
Chris: There is
quite a range of musicians and styles.
Sérgio: The
escolas de samba, Bahia, Ivan Lins. I was selecting what I felt. The only thing
that's missing is a Milton song.
Chris: Have you
done anything like this before? Perhaps your album that compares is Primal Roots, from 1972.
Sérgio: Primal Roots was like a small version of
this. I had always wanted to do something totally Brazilian, with all the stuff
I loved down there. Luckily, Bob Krasnow of Elektra said 'Go do it.' It's rare
to have that kind of support from a record company. That's how this album was
conceived.
Chris: How did
you integrate all recordings done in Rio with the musicians in L.A.?
Sérgio: When I
brought back all the tracks from Rio to L.A., to add more tracks with musicians
here, there were big smiles in the studio. They loved it and it gave them
something fresh and different to work with. They played their best and it was a
total integration of their work with the Brazilian Afro rhythms.
Chris: The album
really has a distinctive sound, whether you are American or Brazilian.
Sérgio: The
presentation of all this music is the way I hear it.
Chris: Tell us
about the first number.
Sérgio: It opens
with Jaguar playing repique, solo. He
is answered by one hundred all-star percussionists from the top samba schools
in Rio – Mangueira, Portela, Padre Miguel, Beija-Flor. I always wanted to
capture what you hear on the streets of Rio during Carnaval, that power, that energy. So we got the best players,
which was not easy to do, and then gathered them together in a parking lot with
24-track equipment. Then I had the idea of putting a chant on top of that.
Chris: So, take
us to the Sambódromo in Rio [where the parades take place during Carnaval].
What is happening?
Sérgio: The
"Fanfarra" is the opening, played before the escola enters the
Sambódromo. One guy, Jaguar, is "calling" [with his repique solo] and
the others are "answering."
Chris: And then
you mixed that with a Carlinhos Brown song.
Sérgio: I
recorded this in April. I wanted to add something on top of it. On my second
trip I searched for songs to put on top and it wasn't working. I was stuck with
this incredible piece of percussion. Then I went to Bahia and I heard Carlinhos
Brown at this song festival and I heard his stuff and liked it very much. He
had a samba de roda,
"Cabua-Le-Le," that I loved and wanted to use. And he liked the idea
of the [samba school] percussion underneath. I brought him down to Rio and we did a lot of overdubs. I
wanted the rawness of the sound, but to organize it a little bit. It took a lot
of work putting the pieces together. So, it's an Afro-Bahian song with Rio
Carnaval percussion behind it.
Chris: Next is
"Magalenha," also by Carlinhos Brown. This sounds to me like a fusion
of baiao and samba-reggae, with embolada
or calango in the singing part.
Sérgio: Carlinhos
is singing and playing triangle, with the Bahian percussion group Vai Quem Vem,
and a chorus of four girls, three guys and myself. I put Vai Quem Vem on a bus
and they spent two weeks in Rio, rehearsing and recording.
Chris:
"Indiado" by Brown is a lively romp, with some funky synth horns and
a lively guitar on top.
Sérgio: The
vocals are by Carlinhos and Gracinhas Leoparace. It's a mixture of forró and samba-reggae. Vai Quem Vem is
playing, plus Jeff Porcaro on drums, Jimmy Johnson on bass, Paul Jackson, Jr.
on guitar, and myself on synthesized horns.
Chris: "What
is This?" by Carmen Alice of Vai Quem Vem is really something unusual. I
don't think I've heard a Bahian rap song before.
Sérgio: It's
their reading of the American rap style. In Bahia, they hear everything—rap,
reggae, merengue—and adapt it. Carmen's song is so raw and pure, I thought the
simplicity and purity of it were really interesting. It's very Bahian.
Chris: It's a lot
of fun and so different. Big booming drums to open, very catchy. A rap song
played on Brazilian drums and percussion, which we've never heard up here in
North America. And a funky berimbau.
Sérgio: We were
recording in Rio at Polygram, and having no luck with a couple of songs.
Finally, I said, 'Can you play me something different?' And this young girl
from Vai Quem Vem named Carmen grabbed the microphone and started doing this
incredible rap in English! She is an English teacher from Salvador, as well as
a percussionist and singer. Her neighborhood there is called Candeal, it's a
poor place, and this rap is about it. It's her reading of the American rap
style. It was part of their repertoire that I hadn't heard. I added my
synthesizer. I call it organic rap. It's so raw and pure. Here we have the rap
rhythm on surdos, etc., instead of on drum machines, giving it a different
flavor. It's my first rap.
Chris: You follow
that with two Ivan Lins songs. "Lua Soberana" is an Ivan Lins afoxé with a stirring, haunting melody.
Then you have his sweetly flowing "Sambadouro."
Sérgio:
"Sambadouro" is a samba with Gracinha on the lead vocals. It's very carioca, very Rio de Janeiro. It has
some of my old Brasil '66 sound, and reminds me of a gafieira, one of Rio's romantic dance halls where couples dance to
samba.
Chris:
"Senhoras do Amazonas" by João Bosco has an unusual, beautiful sound
with an interesting arrangement.
Sérgio: The
vocals are by João and Gracinha. I'm on the keyboards, Carlos Bala on drums,
and Arthur Maia on bass. This is the first time I've recorded João. I love his
stuff. This is a samba, but not with normal chord changes. There are lots of
diminished chords, giving an unusual harmonic structure to the song. And the
drum part is somewhat partido alto. I
said to him, 'I have to have one of your songs.' João did the music and
Belchior the lyrics. All his songs have that onomatopoeia stuff. I said I
wanted lyrics whose emphasis was more on their rhythmic value than on pretty
words and poetical images.
Chris: Tell us
about "Kalimba" by Ivan Lins, his third song on the album.
Sérgio: Here you
have tribal chanting in the lyrics with an R&B dance sound underneath. Paul Jackson, Jr. is on guitar, me on
keyboards, Jeff Porcaro drums, Nathan East bass, Luis Conte, conga. And
Gracinha, Kevyn Lettau, and myself on vocals.
Chris: Carlinhos
Brown's "Barabare" sounds Gilberto Gil-influenced, with an ijexá rhythm, a gentle swing, and a
somewhat pop-jazzy chorus.
Sérgio: I think
this song is very beautiful. It has Bahia and also the flair of Rio, too. It
makes me think of Rio's beautiful beaches, in the late afternoon of a summer
day. Carlinhos and Gracinha do the
vocals. I'm on agogô and keyboards,
and Carlinhos Brown on percussion, and Tião Neto on percussion and not [his
usual] bass.
Chris: "Esconjuros"
is nice, hypnotic, very interesting at end. The vocals sound to me like they're
a little embolada in style, and underneath there's some faint maracatu. It
feels sort of like classical music meeting folk. It's one of two Guinga songs
on the album, I see.
Sérgio: Guinga
did the music and Aldir Blanc the lyrics. Gracinha is on vocals, Steve
Tavaglione oboe and flute, and Guinga guitar. Guinga is the composer who
impressed me the most when I was there. He's like Villa-Lobos meets Cole
Porter. He made me cry. He's very shy, plays acoustic guitar, and writes
beautiful melodies.
Chris: Hermeto
Pascoal's "Pipoca" takes us in another directly entirely.
Sérgio: We go
back so many years. We used to play at the same bars and clubs in São Paulo,
accompanying singers. He's one of the most incredible musicians I've ever met.
This time, I asked him to write me a samba in 3/4 and he did! Here he plays
acoustic piano and I play synthesizer. That's for the jazz fans. It's my thing
meets his thing. Only Hermeto writes those kind of melodies.
Chris: Then comes
"Magano" by Carlinhos Brown. A speeded-up samba-reggae underneath
with merengue on top in your keyboards.
Sérgio: With
Gracinha and the singers from Rio in the chorus. The vocalists wish us axé [good vibes, life force].
Chris: And your
next to last song is the spare, pretty "Chorado" by Guinga. It sounds
Milton Nascimento-ish with beautiful singing, the wordless vocals of Claudio
Nucci.
Sérgio: Guinga
strikes again. It's a beautiful song and Claudio sings like an angel on it.
It's got Guinga on guitar and me on synth cello and oboe.
Chris: And you
close with the "Fanfarra (Despedida)" of the samba school
percussionists. Perfect. Would you say this is your best album ever?
Sérgio: That
would be too pretentious. But it has just about all of my favorite things from
Brazil.
I also interviewed Sérgio Mendes in The Brazilian Music Book,
a collection of interviews with prominent Brazilian musicians in the areas of bossa nova, MPB and Brazilian jazz.
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