SERGIO MENDES

Sergio Mendes is the most internationally successful Brazilian artist of all time. From the mid 1960s to the late '70s, Mendes established his legend by taking numerous albums and singles, such as "Brasil 66," "Mas Que Nada," and "The Look of Love," to the top of the pop charts.

It was those Sergio classics that won the heart and mind of evolving musical legend will.i.am, chief producer and songwriter of the Black Eyed Peas. One of the most successful rap acts of this decade, the band's 2005 album, Monkey Business, is the urban pop crossover phenomenon of the year. Will collaborates with Sergio on the iconic pianist's upcoming Concord Records/Starbucks Hear Music album, Timeless, Mendes' first new release in eight years. For Will (who claims Mendes' "Slow Hot Wind," reworked on Timeless as "That Heat," is the first song he ever sampled while still an East L.A. teen), working with Sergio Mendes has been a dream come true. As Will states: "This album has been fourteen years in the making."

Things began rolling when Will invited Sergio to play piano on the cut "Sexy" from the Peas' multi-platinum Elephunk album. Much to his amazement, Will discovered A&M Record's President could arrange a meeting with his idol. The seed was planted. And the rest, as they say, is history.

"He came to my house with a lot of old vinyl that I recorded many years ago," remembers Sergio. "And I was so surprised. It was like, 'Wow!' He knew every song. He knows every Brazilian riff. I could just feel his passion for the music. We talked and I said, 'You know what? You love Brazilian music. Why don't we bring the Brazilian music and melodies to the hip-hop urban world and put them together? I think we can make something really different.'"

"It turned into a wonderful marriage of rhythms," Sergio continues, "because it's all African rhythms and haunting melodies. It's all about the same beats that we inherited from Africa. It's that same common denominator that brought the samba to Brazil and brought jazz to America. We had a ball."

"Hip-hop is urban to America," adds Will, "but samba and bossa nova are urban to Brazil. It's two urban cultures clashing and fusing together beautifully, because they all share a lot of the same qualities."

Putting together the project, Will and Sergio, of course, brought in the Black Eyed Peas. They also recruited some of the biggest urban-pop artists of the last several decades, each a Sergio fan, to contribute to various tracks. Featured artists include Erykah Badu, Justin Timberlake, India.Arie, Q-Tip, John Legend, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, and members of The Roots and Jurassic 5.

The involvement of Wonder (Mendes wrote Portuguese lyrics to one of Wonder's songs many years ago) was fortuitous.

"Perfect timing," says Will. "Me and Sergio had just finished in the studio at the Record Plant. Sergio left, and I was working on stuff until four o'clock in the morning. Then Venus, my partner, says 'Hey, Stevie Wonder's in the next hallway!' So we went over and I said, 'Mr. Wonder, I'm working on the new Sergio Mendes project.' Oh, I love Sergio!' he says. 'I haven't seen Sergio in about 15 or 20 years.' So I was like, 'we'd love, love to have you play harmonica or sing on one of the songs.' He said, 'Let me hear what you guys got cooking up.' So we walked over to the room, played him 'Consolacao.' He says, 'Let me get a copy of that so I can take it home and learn the melody.' And, then he came by two days later..."

"And it was magic," interjects Sergio.

"Pure magic!" agrees Will.

It's hardly surprising, though, that Mendes should also attract the affection of younger superstars as well. You see, over the last decade, despite his absence from the recording studio, Sergio Mendes has recently become hip all over again. DJs have been sampling his classic tracks in clubs. Japanese group Pizzicato Five have consistently named him a major influence; same with Chicago hipsters, the Aluminum Group.