Van Wezel Presents Sergio Mendes and Guest Jon Scada, 4/15

Celebrating 50 years in music, multi-Grammy® winner and Band Leader Sergio Mendes and three-time Grammy® winner Jon Secada bring a Brazilian high-energy style of Latin Jazz featuring Mendes' mix of light jazz, bossa nova beats and contemporary soft pop melodies, and vocal stylings of Jon Secada. Catch the performance at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sun. Apr. 15, 2012 at 7:00 PM.

Sergio Mendes was living in Rio de Janeiro when the bossa nova craze hit in the mid '50s. As a teenager he spent time with other young Brazilian musicians, absorbing the musical ferment around him. Mendes became the leader of his own group, the Sexteto Bossa Rio, and was heard with them by many visiting musicians. In 1964, he moved to the United States and in 1966 Mendes (featured on keyboards) and his band, Brasil '66, was signed to A&M Records. Their self-titled debut LP rose to number six nationally, propelled by the presence of the single "Mas Que Nada." Their second album, Equinox, yielded a trio of hits, "Night and Day," "Constant Rain (Chove Chuva)," and "For Me," and their third, Look Around, rose to number five behind a number three single of the group's cover of the Beatles' "Fool on the Hill," and an accompanying hit with "Scarborough Fair," based on the Simon & Garfunkel version of the folk song. Crystal Illusions (1969) featured a version of Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and the hit single "Pretty World." During this period, Mendes also made several recordings aimed at a light jazz audience, several of them in association with Art Farmer, Phil Woods, and Hubert Laws, successfully walking a fine line between international and domestic audiences for most of the late '60s, until the end of the decade. His 1983 comeback solo album Sergio Mendes-- his first Top 40 album in nearly a decade-and-a-half -- included his biggest chart single ever, "Never Gonna Let You Go," which hit number four. During the '90s, Mendes performed with a New Group, Brasil '99, and more recently, Brasil 2000, and has been integrating the sounds of Bahian hip-hop into his music. Timeless (2006) was his first album of newly recorded material in eight years. A mere two years later, Encanto appeared, including co-productions from will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas. Mendes released Bom Tempo in 2010 and in 2011 Mendes was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the animated film Rio.

Featured guest Jon Secada co-wrote on #1 hits "Coming out of the Dark" (Gloria Estefan), "Bella" (Ricky Martin), and "Baila" (Jennifer Lopez). He has starred on Broadway in Grease, Cabaret and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and has been a star judge on Latin America's American Idol for 3 years. He recently released his new Spanish album Otra Vez with songs like "Dejame Quererte" and "Get Crazy."

Ticket prices range from $30-$70. For more information and to buy tickets, contact the Van Wezel Box office at (941)953-3368 or log onto www.vanwezel.org.