Encanto, the new album from Sergio Mendes, remains the #1 Contemporary Jazz Album in the country for the second week in a row! Concord Records presents Sergio Mendes’ Encanto, in stores now, the follow up record to 2006’s Timeless. I have also included tour dates below so let me know if you would be interested in seeing Sergio Mendes live.
“Sergio Mendes is a proud member of the generation that invented bossa nova… [backed by] his powerful ensemble… Mr. Mendes announced early in the evening his main purpose: to celebrate some of the great Brazilian songwriters. Navigating bossa nova’s vital polyrhythms with grace and powered by two extraordinary percussionists, Mr. Mendes’s band gave evergreens by the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Dori Caymmi and Jorge Ben the passionate treatment they deserved. “Mas Que Nada,†was the eagerly anticipated encore and, with the audience singing and dancing along, turned Carnegie Hall into Carnaval†– New York Times
“Sergio Mendes has done it again! Since releasing his latest album “Encanto†last week, it has climbed to the top of the musical charts. “Encanto†has become the #1 contemporary jazz album in the country and was the #1 top downloaded album on iTunes Latino the week of its release… Mendes with his musical curiosity and willingness to try new things from bassa nova to hip-hop has been able to reach a younger generation with his music… But no matter what Mendes stays true to his musical formula†– New York Post
One of the privileges of stardom is the ability to concoct and pull off projects that color outside the lines. In the past few years Sergio Mendes, the superstar Brazilian keyboardist and bandleader and longtime ambassador of bossa nova, has drawn freely on this license… Now Mendes is back with “Encanto,” with once again will.i.am as co-producer and a new roster of guest talent that spans generations and genres…At the same time, there’s a perceptible shift from the program of “Timeless,”…”Encanto,” makes more room for incontrovertibly Brazilian treatments…Mendes, who at this point has come to incarnate the international artist par excellence, admits to an intention of homecoming… It’s true that Brazilian music consists of numerous regional styles and energies, and even as “Encanto” connects these with other international genres, it does a good job reflecting that variety… More perhaps than anyone else,[Mendes] has convened a conversation between Brazilian and international artists that has continued across generations, spanning from Cannonball Adderley and Sarah Vaughan to hip-hop and Latin rock stars of today. The enduring allure of Brazil plays a part here, as does the vitality of the great bossa nova songs and their amenability to reinterpretation. So, too, do the good humor and party feel that so many associate with Brazilian music, and that is unabashedly on display in “Encanto” – a summer album for sure, with the easy draw of beach reading.†– Boston Globe
“Encanto†(Enchantment), currently sits atop Billboard’s contemporary jazz chart and features a number of hot young guests, including Fergie, Colombian rock star Juanes, r & b singer Ledisi and Italian rapper Jovanotti. Add in veterans including Natalie Cole, Herb Alpert and Brazil’s Carlinhos Brown and you’ve got one bright tropical summer CD†– Boston Herald
Sergio Mendes certainly knows how to fine-tune an idea…Since [the] previous star-studded album, Mendes Âfocuses more on the bossa nova tradition than the hip-hop mixture…Ledisi’s Waters Of March joyously jiggles forward with a message of survival and struggle. Natalie Cole elegantly blessÂes the proceedings with a pleasant whimsy that is all too rare in contemporary music; her kaleidoscopic tone is haunting.
Herb Alpert blows clouds of comfort into the gentle Dreamer…This album is certainly Timeless… It’s the sound of summertime sunshine.†– NOW Magazine (Toronto)
“Mendes is still in the throes of a love affair with perhaps his country’s most important export…There are few musicians as gifted as pianist-arranger Mendes in creating fusions that resonate with popular taste and retain a high level of artistry… ‘Encanto’ [is] another creative and contemporary reworking of the classics of Brazilian popular music…Mendes delves deeper into the canon [creating] entirely new delightsâ€â€“NEWSDAY