Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66- "Herb Alpert Presents..." "Equinox"

One of my most vivid memories of music making it's indelible mark on me was hearing Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66. I was four. My mother was an avid lover of music and always had it playing while working simultaneously. It kept her company and kept me calm. While I didn't exactly know what their lyrics were saying, I enjoyed the wall of sound their harmonies provided and learned the words phonetically. There were more traditional and established Brasilian musicians that helped birth the genre in late 50's (Joau Gilberto, Caeteno Veloso, Astrud Gilberto and Tamba Trio), Sérgio Mendes succeeded in bringing the bossa nova rhythm to popular music mixing songs in both English and Portuguese. Mendes, with the help of Herb Alpert skyrocketed to popularity with music that was cool, classy, cosmopolitan and refreshing. It's no coincidence that the opening track on "Equinox", "Constant Rain" fades in as if your approaching the sextet performing flaunting smooth vocal harmonizing and sitars. Songs like the detached and distant "Cinnamon and Clove" and "Watch What Happens" are so distinctly retro they're refreshing. The American standards "Night and Day" and "Wave" fare pretty well to balance out the album and make it more mainstream. Remakes would eventually become a part of the formula on each album. "For Me" is probably the most distinguished song on "Equinox" with its staccato piano verses that build and explode into full samba for each chorus. As for the first album "Herb Alpert Presents Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66", "Slow Hot Wind" is my favorite with it's spy flick guitar and dubby reverb treatment of the rim shot. That coupled with Lani Hall's vocals seals the deal. Their take on "Mas Que Nada" is also classic. Forty years later Equinox and "Herb Alpert presents..." are landmark albums that presented the public with an opportunity to escape modern American life and slip into a world of sun and tropical optimism.