Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 – Stillness – LP

Absolutely 100% killer Brazil album.

Includes stunning versions of “For What It’s Worth”, “Chelsea Morning” and Gilberto Gil’s “Viramundo”! The bomb.This classic and groundbreaking album was recorded in Los Angeles in 1970, at a time when Sergio Mendes was at the height of his commercial status with his incredibly successful musical blend of Brazilian flavours and American pop sensibility. ‘Stillness’ was a decisive break away from commercial pop towards a more serious and mature sound.

Powerful new vocal songs such as “Stillness” and “Righteous Life” signified a new era in the music of Sergio Mendes. The Brazilian influence is, if anything, even more pronounced than before as Mendes and guitarist Castro-Neves – originally two central figures in the Bossa Nova scene in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1960s – dig deep into Brazilian music with amazing versions of Gilberto Gil’s Viramundo and Caetano Veloso’s Lost in Paradise.

But what is new about this album is the perfect blending of this Brazilian sensibility with the deep West Coast sound at the start of the 1970s. Mendes augments his Brasil ’66 group with Los Angeles players to stunningly interpret songs by Buffalo Springfield (For What It’s Worth), Joni Mitchell (Chelsea Morning) and Blood, Sweat and Tears (Sometimes in Winter), creating a fantastic unique and mature new sound.

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