Sergio Mendes took a deep breath, expanded his sound to include strings lavishly arranged by the young
Dave Grusin and
Dick Hazard, went further into Brazil, and out came a gorgeous record of
Brasil '66 at the peak of its form. Here
Mendes released himself from any reliance upon
Antonio Carlos Jobim and rounded up a wealth of truly great material from Brazilian fellow travelers:
Gilberto Gil's jet-propelled "Roda" and
Joao Donato's clever "The Frog,"
Dori Caymmi's stunningly beautiful "Like a Lover," Harold Lobo's carnival-esque "Tristeza," and
Mendes himself (the haunting "So Many Stars" and the title track).
Mendes was also hip enough to include "With a Little Help From My Friends" from
the Beatles'
Sgt. Pepper LP. As things evolved, though, the one track that this album would be remembered for is the only other non-Brazilian tune,
Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love," in an inventive, grandiose arrangement with a simplified bossa beat. The tune just laid there on the album until
Mendes and company performed it on the Academy Awards telecast in 1968. The performance was a sonic disaster, but no matter; the public response was huge, a single was released, and it become a monster, number four on the pop charts. So much for the reported demise of bossa nova; in
Sergio Mendes' assimilating, reshaping hands, allied with
Herb Alpert's flawless production, it was still a gold mine. ~ Richard S. Ginell