Something for everyone
artanis65 | Washington, DC | 07/16/2004
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This was Mendes' first album with Brazil '77, and the album draws on a mixture of sounds from the Brasil '66 group. There's the insanely catchy title song by Jorge Ben, almost as good as Ben's "Mais Que Nada" on the first Brasil '66 album. There's some straight ahead Brazilian jazz on "Zanzibar" with a sensational piano solo by Mendes, reminiscent of several tunes on the "Fool on the Hill" album. The excellent "Tonga" has the clean stripped down sound of "Equinox" and "Herb Alpert Presents." "After Midnight" is a slight song, but this is an exciting big band version of the Eric Clapton hit.
If you like mediocre pop songs, you'll appreciate "So Many People" and "Gone Forever" which are similar to the dross on some of the later Brasil '66 albums. They're easy on the ears but not all that interesting. If you're Sergio Mendes' mom, you might appreciate "I Know You" on which Mendes takes a solo turn, though the rest of us probably won't. As an interesting bonus, you get "Pais Tropical" in Japanese - this is a Japanese reissue after all. So that's three languages on one album.
This was the group's first album without Lani Hall, but the two lead singers are still wonderful. Highly recommended for Brasil '66 fans; but this shouldn't be your first Mendes album."
Awesome and beautiful
John W. Estes | 02/12/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I am a huge fan of Brasil 66, but with this debut album by Brasil 77, there's just more of the greatness that is Sergio Mendes. My 2 favorite tracks on the CD are Morro Velho a song that is lead by Gracinha Leporace. Gracinha has such a powerful voice and was a great replacement for Lani Hall. The other song I like a lot is Zanzibar. This is a great jazz/fusion number featuring Mendes solo on keyboards. Zanzibar shows why Mendes is a phenomenal jazz musician."
New beginnings but with the same classic sound
JMK | Pacific Northwest | 12/31/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
""She's gone, she's gone, it'll take the Devil to replace her." Yeah, I know that was *Daryl* Hall, not Lani, but that's probably what Sergio was thinking after his longtime lead vocalist who gave him his signature vocal sound, left Brasil '66 to pursue her solo career and, ultimately, become Mrs. Herb Alpert. But the ever-alluring Karen Philipp, who had been singing with Mendes since 1968, was there to pick up the slack, and while she may not have had the power and intimacy of Lani Hall, she has her own distinctive vocal charms, which are abundantly on display on the two gorgeous Paul Williams selections, "Gone Forever" (one of the most beautiful ballads Mendes has ever recorded), and the somewhat slighter "So Many People" (which boasts a great, sadly uncredited, harmonica solo). Mrs. Mendes, Gracinha Leporace, handles the Brasilian material with her typical gusto, including the beautiful Milton Nascimento penned "Morro Velho." Other standouts on this album are the fantastic vocalese and acoustic piano solo of "Zanzibar" (though, strangely, the Japanese import CD omits the "guitar tune up" that was on the original LP release--maybe they thought it was an error, I personally always loved it as a little window into the recording session), and the gutsy sax of Tom Scott on the propulsive 7/4 reworking of "After Midnight." This was a promising start to a "second phase" of Mendes' career that did not reap the market dividends that Brasil '66 did, but that nonetheless has a multitude of aural pleasures of its own to bestow upon the willing listener."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1