One common thread weaves throughout the staggeringly diverse tapestry of music that Sergio Mendes has created over his remarkable six-decade career: the spirit of joy.
The Brazilian legend’s 2020 album is no exception. With In the Key of Joy, Mendes looks back over his six-decade career the only way he knows how – by once again moving forward. In the Key of Joy melds the classic Brazilian, jazz, and pop sounds that have long characterized Mendes’ music with stunningly contemporary inspirations that make the album sound at once utterly timeless and wholly of the moment.
In The Key of Joy also serves as a companion piece to director John Scheinfeld’s documentary of the same name, detailing Mendes’ life and career with interviews from past collaborators including John Legend and will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas.
A three-time Grammy Award winner, Mendes has recorded more than 45 albums, with numerous gold and platinum discs among them. From his pioneering contributions to the foundations of bossa nova alongside the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim, through the era-defining Latin-pop sound of his iconic group Brasil ’66; his scintillating collaborations with jazz legends like Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann to his chart-topping adult contemporary smash “Never Gonna Let You Go;” on through his 21st-century reinvention with the Black-Eyed Peas and John Legend or his Oscar®-nominated theme song from the animated hit Rio: an infectious spirit of joy pervades everything Mendes has ushered into the ears of listeners.
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