September 11, 2024 • 24 mins
The Jan Price Show All About Movies is moving to a brand-new time slot on Saturdays at 10:30 AM! In September, we will also continue to air at 1:05 PM. Starting in October, The Jan Price Show All About Movies will air at 10:30 AM, and there will be an encore show at 9 PM on Saturday evening!
In honor of the passing of Sergio Mendes, we are running an encore show of the interview that originally aired on February 29th, 2020.
Encore! Legendary musician Sergio Mendes & Director John Scheinfeld discuss their documentary, "Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy" – "Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy" stars Harrison Ford, Sergio Mendes, and Quincy Jones, and is currently available to stream across digital platforms!
Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy is a joyful, cinematic celebration of this singular musical artist, who remains as vital and relevant today as when he exploded on the scene with his group, Brasil '66. With a rich, multi-layered approach to storytelling, the film digs deep to reveal the forces that shaped his incredible journey.
In honor of the passing of Sergio Mendes, we are running an encore show of the interview that originally aired on February 29th, 2020.
Encore! Legendary musician Sergio Mendes & Director John Scheinfeld discuss their documentary, "Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy" – "Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy" stars Harrison Ford, Sergio Mendes, and Quincy Jones, and is currently available to stream across digital platforms!
Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy is a joyful, cinematic celebration of this singular musical artist, who remains as vital and relevant today as when he exploded on the scene with his group, Brasil '66. With a rich, multi-layered approach to storytelling, the film digs deep to reveal the forces that shaped his incredible journey.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's John Power Talk AM fourteen sixty and then one
oh one point one streaming worldwide on iHeart Radio. Jam
Price talks to the moovers and shakers in the film
business the Jam Brice Shows.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
You're listening to the Jam Price Show and today I
am so excited. My guests today are the legendary musician
Sergio Mendez and really amazing director John Seinfeld. Welcome to
the show.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Thank you, pleasure, Thanks Jan, happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
It's lovely meeting and having you both on the show.
We met at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. We had
the world premiere where you had the world premiere of
the brand new documentary that we're going to be talking
about today, Sergio Mendes and The Key of Joy. And
I just loved, loved, loved this documentary and to me,
it was the highlight, one of the highlights other than
(00:55):
interviewing Brad Pitt on the Red Carpet, which was a
pretty big highlight of the Santa Barbara Film Festival. But
was going to see this documentary and then the private
concert that Sergio gave us afterwards. What a treat what thank.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
You, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You're so welcome. So, John, how did this project come about?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Well, Ill, I answered the first part of that, Jen
and Sergio can can pick up. I'd had lunch with
the top executive at Concord Records, which has been Sergio's
label for some years, and in the course of the lunch,
the executive said to me, well, how would you like
to make a documentary about Sergio Mendez? And I hesitated
(01:41):
all of five seconds and I said, I'll do that.
I said, I'll do that. I'll do that for my mother.
My mom used to play Sergio Mendez in Brazil sixty
six around the house and she danced around the house
all the time when I was growing up, and so
Sergio was very much part of my concient business back
then and I've always and I continued to play his
(02:03):
music ever since. But I didn't know a lot about
his story. But the more I looked into it, I thought,
just a remarkable artist and a remarkable story. And Sergio
can tell you how we met and how the decision
was made that we would work together.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Okay, Sergio.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Yeah, So when I was told by the same person
at Concord that he had a director in mind that
I would like to meet, him. I told him I
would like to meet John, and so he came to
the house and we spent you know, like it took
me three seconds also to fall in love with him.
(02:36):
We had a we had a he walked into my
house and start singing Moscinada in Portuguese.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
How did you not fall in love with it?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
With a Chicago accent?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
That's not true, but it's a nice story.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Was one totally totally total serendipity. As I mentioned a
few times in the well, yeah, we kind of liked
each other. And I also have seen the work he
did for Cold Train, which I loved that and Harry
Nilsson and John Lennon, so that showed me that his
style of working and his taste for music, and so yeah,
I mean it was no doubt and we had a
(03:16):
kind of years.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
What we ended up doing, Jan was I had sort
of come up with my vision for the film, which
was the first word that's here first amongst the first
words you hear Surgeon used in the film, serendipity.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Serendipity.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
He's always referred to his life as a series of
magical encounters and that his life could have gone this way,
could have gone that way, but this magical encounter took
place and took him off into a particular direction. But
also I was very impressed by how he would have
the same ups and downs in a career that most
musicians have, and in every decade he found a way
(03:54):
to continue to be relevant, to find a way to
tweak his sound to make it important for the people
of that era. And that's a rare thing. A lot
of artists sort of have their little moment and then
that's it. But here is Sergio fifty some years later,
still relevant, still out there, performing, still recording, and we
tried to capture all of that in this film.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Literally amazing career. Yeah, I so really, you know, the
serendipity was, as you say, it's it's you know, your life,
And I so relate to that because I feel the
same way. My life has been the same way. Very serendipity,
you know, and so it's wonderful to see that and
how you know, things like Gwen Lanni Hall left decided
(04:36):
to leave to pursue her personal life. You you know,
that was a big blow for you at the time, Sergio,
and yet out of that something amazing and wonderful happened.
Do you want to tell us a little bit about
that story.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Yes, of course, you know, as you've seen in the movie,
you know, Lenny was from the beginning. She was a
big part of the sound of Brazil sixty six. But
I also knew that she was in love with her
and was a natural thing. Both were in love with
each other and made a decision to leave the band,
and I understood, you know, I was a little set
(05:10):
more than anything said, because you know, now here I
go to start something again, a different sound, which I did,
and luckily I had met my wife, got singing in
Brazil and another shoes a great another great singer, great sound,
and so that kind of substitute the sound that I
had with Loney. And you know, a lot of a
lot of times in the band when you say you
(05:32):
lose your drummer or the singer, it's a very important thing,
you know, but substitute somebody has been with you for
a long time. But it worked out wonderful and we've
been together now for almost forty eight years and a
great I mean, she's sings, she sung in my all
my albums from after that, and she's just a pleasure
having her life and on the album so you know,
(05:52):
things turn out to.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Be great, you know, jan This is one of the
other things we tried to capture in Surgery A. Mendez
and the key of joy is I was struck immediately
when I met Sergio with how relentlessly optimistic he is. Yes,
he always views the world with great positivity. And there's
a good example. He could have really had a big
problem when Lonnie left, but it's like, okay, you know,
(06:13):
on to the next and let let's let's be positive
about this, right. And I think that's a really important thing,
and it's to be celebrated to to have a life
like that and have a career like that viewed through
the lens of positivity. And I think, you know, these
days there's so much darkness in the world. Yes, yes,
that having a story about somebody that's it's all about joy.
(06:36):
It's all about putting a smile on people's faces. That's
what's really important. And that's what our film tries to do.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Oh, it definitely does it does you know, definitely puts
a big smile on your face and you're happy when
you're leaving the film, you know, in the end of
the film and you're singing and that's you know, all
the wonderful music that you know Sergio has produced over
all of these wonderful years. As they say, one door closes,
another one open, you know, and that's that. And you know,
it's like whenever we think something really bad is happening,
(07:06):
you know, if you can, just like you do, very positively,
just go okay, I know something better is coming along,
you know, and you just take it with a grain
of salt and you move on to what's next and
know that something positive is going to come out of that.
And here you met your beautiful wife, and as you say,
you've been together almost forty eight years and you get
to travel together all the time and perform together. How
wonderful is that? Because I'm sure the treasure yes, I mean,
(07:30):
I'm sure it would be. It was very hard on
your first marriage with you traveling all the time, I'm sure,
and your three with three children, I think you had
so very very difficult. And then when you met Graziela,
then you were able to travel and be together. So
that's very positive, very positive. What did you john for
(07:50):
you and putting together this documentary? What was the thing
that you learned about Sergio that you had no idea
about what was the surprise for you.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I would say two things, jan First, is his career
career pre coming to America. Excuse me, his career before
he came to America was largely unknown to people here
and myself included. To learn that he was a pioneer
(08:22):
of a particular school of Basanova. In our film, there's
a Brazilian journalist named Nelson Mota who calls it heavy Bossa.
And to know that Sergio was really a pioneer of
that and he was a large figure in the Brazilian
music scene, that was an important thing to have learned.
(08:44):
And then we have a story that I didn't find
in any of my research that Sergia was arrested during
the military coup in nineteen sixty four, and Sergio tells
that story very eloquently in the film. And it's how
that impact his life there and then how it prompted
him to come to America, and all of that I
(09:05):
think was a critical event in his evolution as a
person and as an artist. And I'm glad we stumbled
across that. Y.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Do you want to tell us a little bit more
about that event and how it changed.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Yeah, yeah, this I'm talking about nineteen sixty four. Beginning
like April, we had a kind of a revolution with
the military taking over. It was really a dark moment
in Brazilian history. And so as a musician, you know,
there are all military people that they didn't.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Like the arts.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
They didn't like musicians or painters, or so they arrested
me thinking that I was. I sented a telegram to
a friend of mine, a painter, very important painter, and
they thought that was the key of the you know
that I was communicated in a special language. So it
was so so realistic to me to leave that experience,
and my first son was just born. So at the combination,
(09:57):
I said, wow, this is going to get worse than
work here, which it did, by the way, it did.
You know Brazil from sixty four, I would say to
seventy something was really horrible. It was people getting arrested
and tortured. And so I decided to come to America again,
and I was like, Okay, I'm going to start something
fresh after having great bands in Brazil, instrumental bands, and
(10:19):
that's what I did, and I the best thing I've
done in my life was to make that decision and
to do and come over to live here?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
And what was your first experience, so our audience knows
once you got to America and where did you go
initially and how did your career career evolve from that
point of coming to the States.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
I start playing clubs in town. There was a club
called Shelley's man Hole.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Now where was the drummer? Where did you come to first?
I came to La.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
I came to.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
La, Yes, and I started playing clubs around town here.
We played the Lighthouse in Herma's Beach, We played the
Sheallist man Hole and auditioning. I made a record for
Capitol Records, Brazil sixty five and then the band they
all went back to Brazil and I stayed by myself
and okay we go again, started over and that has been,
(11:08):
you know, the story of my life. You know, when
you have bands, you know people sometimes they stay longer,
sometimes they leave. But I knew that that was the
place for me to be. And I'm very happy that
I made that decision. And you know, I met so
many people here and made records with other musicians. So yeah,
that was at the beginning nineteen sixty five in.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
La and when and how did you meet Herb Alpert?
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Yeah, so when when we were auditioning the band for
record companies, had a friend of mine that had studios
recording studio in Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, and many record
executives came to hear the band. That was a very
normal thing in those days. You know, there's a band
playing town, and then you know, other people would come
in and would play a couple of songs. And so
(11:54):
one day came Herb Alpert and Jerry moss A and
m and they heard the band and they said, we
love you sound. Then we have a new starting a
new label right now. And because Herb had a huge success,
do you want to breass instrumental band? And they signed
me to Ay and them. That was the beginning, and
that was the beginning.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
How exciting the beginning.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Another beginning of it, many many beginnings. If you were
just tuning in, you're listening to the Jam Price Show
all about movies, and today my guest are legendary musician
Sergio Mendez and amazing director John Seinfeld, and we're talking
about the new documentary Sergio Mendez and The Key of Joy.
(12:35):
Now you had John, you've had quite. You have quite
a few people on in this film who you were
able to recruit to talk about Sergio, and one of
those people is Harrison Ford and he was recently on
Jimmy Kimball. I don't know, Jimmy Kimmel. I don't know
if you saw this or not. He did, okay, yes,
(12:56):
we did, Okay, So I'll just leave the background. They
showed a picture of you and Harrison Ford in his
half naked body when he was really hot. But he
constructed your music see, not that he's still not hot.
He constructed your music studio. So tell us a little
bit about that story because it's really funny and he
(13:17):
was very funny. And I'm Jimmy Kimmel.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Well, he's wonderful in our film. Yeah. In my documentaries,
I always try to have one or two people that
are unexpected to the point where someone will look at
this and say, well, what the heck are they doing
in this film? And we have two in this documentary.
The first one is Pele, the legendary soccer player. Not
(13:40):
only is he in the film talking about Sergio and
how Sergio impacted his life, but we got them to
sing together. And it may be the first time on
film that the Peile sings, but certainly singing with Sergio.
And the second one was Harrison Ford. And Sergio had
shown me before potograph that you're referring to of Sergio
(14:03):
with a young Harrison Ford and his construction crew, and
it was like, wow, that's interesting. And then Sergio told
me the story which he will tell you in a moment,
and I thought, well, we've got to go get Harrison Ford.
So I reached out to his publicist and said, here's
who I am, this is what we're doing, and we
would love to have Harrison do an interview. And with
(14:25):
great attitude, this publicist said, well, why would he want
to do that. He's sort of notorious for not liking
to do interviews at all. This is true, but certainly
why Sergio Mende. She had no idea, so I said,
just ask him, and a couple of days went by
and she called back, very sheepishly, and she said, well,
we're all stune. He wants to do it. And people
(14:47):
who come to see Sergio Mendez in the Key of
Joy will just laugh. He's very droll, and he and
Sergio tell this story, which we shouldn't tell in too
much details. People ought to really see it in the film,
but social can you know it can give you a
sort of his impression of Harrison at that age.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Yeah, I was, well, I had this house in Encino
and that was a very large backyard, and I said,
I want to it's time for me. I want to
build my dream studio so I can make records here.
And and uh so I started asking people around, you know,
do you know anybody that's so A friend of mine said, oh,
(15:29):
I know, this carpenter is great friend of mine. So
here comes Harrison one morning with a long hair. And again,
you know, I was one of those you know, very
very very nice and very warm. And again I don't
want to tell too much because it's in the film,
but it was a great again and another great encounter.
(15:50):
I like him immediately. I never asked him if he
has done anything like that before. I just liked the guy,
and I said, let's do it. Let's start, and you're on.
So it was like that, and then we had such
a it is an incredible job. I mean as far
as carpentry, you know, it's like he was a great,
very you know, a very detailous person and you know,
(16:14):
and it was a great thing. So for like almost
a year I had him work on the studios some
of his friends and they did a magnificent job, and
I started making music there.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
And we had such a good time with Harrison doing
the interview. And this particularly the way the way we
finished the interview is just hysterical and people should come
to the film and see it.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I agree, I totally agree, And you're right, Harrison Ford
does not like to be interviewed. It was very clear
when you watched Jimmy Kimball. He was very uncomfortable. He
kept moving in his seat. But he's very funny. He's
very funny, and he will play. He came out and
played that night on Jimmy Kimmel. But he did the
same in your film too, which was it is. It's
(16:59):
a It's wonderful. You've got so many great people. You've
got you know again, Lannie Hall and Herb Alpert, you know,
who were very instrumental in the early part of your career, Surgio,
and obviously your relationship has continued to be good through
these years. But with the difficulty even though to get
them involved. And I know John, you're doing and a
(17:21):
documentary about Herb Albert correct.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Has not been publicly announced yet, but yes, we just finished.
It'll be out later this year.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Oh great.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
It was not as you can imagine. It was not
the least bit difficult to get Herb and Lannie to
do interviews. They're still great friends with Sergio and Grassinia
and so they were thrilled to do it. You know,
I must say this was one of the easier documentaries
I've done in terms of getting people to do interviews.
(17:54):
Sergio so beloved that really so, whether it's pelet or
Harrison Ford, that was really easy. But we also have
Will I Am, we have common we had John Legend,
we have Quincy Jones. So we're packed with a lot
of really interesting people who have very interesting things to
(18:16):
say about Sergio.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yes, they all do. They all do Sergio. Are you
in the documentary for Herb Albert, heee?
Speaker 4 (18:25):
I did an interview was John? And of course I
mean this with the questions that, you know, how important
was him in my life and so forth? So yeah,
I'm there.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I would assume that you would be.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Well.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
The response to this documentary at the Santa Barbara International
Film Festival was just amazing. Everybody was standing up and
cheering and applotting and just loved it. It was a
great As I said, it was one of the highlights
of the film festival this year. Can people see this
movie now that is it out yet? Are you playing
(19:04):
some more film festivals or is it going to be
on Netflix or somewhere or released on the theaters? How
can people see that?
Speaker 3 (19:12):
As we're doing this interview, it is being discussed. Okay,
the model for a lot of documentaries is to have
your world premiere at the prestigious film festival, and so
we did that at Santa Barbara. And I remember surgery
and how we're going to do a Q and A
(19:32):
after the film, and so as soon as the last
image of the film hit, I sort of snuck up
to Sergio's seat and he and I started to walk
backstage to do the Q and A and this massive
ovation and I just I turned around and said, look
at what they're doing for you, and and it was
just it was just it was amazing. But armed with
(19:53):
that and with the press coverage that we received as
a result, that really sort of jump started our distribution efforts.
And so we now have a distributor who is handling
the film outside of the US, and we are in
conversations with potential people here in the US and Canada,
(20:17):
and we hope that in a few weeks we'll be
able to make an announcement as to where and when
people will be able to see Sergio A. Mendez in
the Key of Joy.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Great, Great, everybody should see this film. It just makes
you happy, and you're right. With so many things going
on in today's world, lots of things going on in
today's world, to have a film where you're uplifted and
you feel great afterwards is just a joy. It's a joy,
(20:50):
the whole movie is. And it's the perfect title, you know,
is Sergio A. Mendez and the Key of Joy. So
I highly recommend it to everyone. Thank you both for
being on the show. It's just been a real pleasure.
That time STIPs by so quickly, but I look forward
to having you back on again, and we're gonna end.
You're so welcome, You're so welcome, and we're gonna end
(21:11):
the show listening to one of my favorite songs from Sergil,
the Fool on the Hill.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
Day after day.
Speaker 7 (21:25):
On a hill, the man that the foolish grin is
keeping perfectly.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
Still nobody wants no help. I can see the dist.
Speaker 7 (21:39):
He never gets an answer of the food. The Hill
sees the sun going down and then on.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
His head see the spinning round.
Speaker 7 (22:09):
Whether his way's heading. The Pang of the thousand voyas
talking perfectly loud. Nobody ever hears him send things to pay,
and he never.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Sings no, that's not. The pool.
Speaker 7 (22:32):
Sees the sun going down and me eyes sis.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
Heir see the wor spinning rod.
Speaker 6 (23:14):
The one is saying I can't I can tell what
he wants to do, and he never shows his female
Not the fool love mother Hill sees the sun go
along down and by up instead see the wood.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Spinning rock.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
You can listen to the Jam Price Show All about
movies anywhere, anytime on the iHeart podcast Network, Spotify, Google podcast,
Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and on your smart TV. Also go
to the jamprishow dot com to listen to any shows
that you may have missed and to listen to the
Price movie minute movie reviews.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
It's John Power Talk AM fourteen sixty and them one
oh one point one, streaming worldwide on iHeartRadio. Jam Price
talks to the movers and shakers in the film business.
The Jam Price show,
It's John Power Talk AM fourteen sixty and then one
oh one point one streaming worldwide on iHeart Radio. Jam
Price talks to the moovers and shakers in the film
business the Jam Brice Shows.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
You're listening to the Jam Price Show and today I
am so excited. My guests today are the legendary musician
Sergio Mendez and really amazing director John Seinfeld. Welcome to
the show.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Thank you, pleasure, Thanks Jan, happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
It's lovely meeting and having you both on the show.
We met at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. We had
the world premiere where you had the world premiere of
the brand new documentary that we're going to be talking
about today, Sergio Mendes and The Key of Joy. And
I just loved, loved, loved this documentary and to me,
it was the highlight, one of the highlights other than
(00:55):
interviewing Brad Pitt on the Red Carpet, which was a
pretty big highlight of the Santa Barbara Film Festival. But
was going to see this documentary and then the private
concert that Sergio gave us afterwards. What a treat what thank.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
You, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You're so welcome. So, John, how did this project come about?
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Well, Ill, I answered the first part of that, Jen
and Sergio can can pick up. I'd had lunch with
the top executive at Concord Records, which has been Sergio's
label for some years, and in the course of the lunch,
the executive said to me, well, how would you like
to make a documentary about Sergio Mendez? And I hesitated
(01:41):
all of five seconds and I said, I'll do that.
I said, I'll do that. I'll do that for my mother.
My mom used to play Sergio Mendez in Brazil sixty
six around the house and she danced around the house
all the time when I was growing up, and so
Sergio was very much part of my concient business back
then and I've always and I continued to play his
(02:03):
music ever since. But I didn't know a lot about
his story. But the more I looked into it, I thought,
just a remarkable artist and a remarkable story. And Sergio
can tell you how we met and how the decision
was made that we would work together.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Okay, Sergio.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Yeah, So when I was told by the same person
at Concord that he had a director in mind that
I would like to meet, him. I told him I
would like to meet John, and so he came to
the house and we spent you know, like it took
me three seconds also to fall in love with him.
(02:36):
We had a we had a he walked into my
house and start singing Moscinada in Portuguese.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
How did you not fall in love with it?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
With a Chicago accent?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
That's not true, but it's a nice story.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
Was one totally totally total serendipity. As I mentioned a
few times in the well, yeah, we kind of liked
each other. And I also have seen the work he
did for Cold Train, which I loved that and Harry
Nilsson and John Lennon, so that showed me that his
style of working and his taste for music, and so yeah,
I mean it was no doubt and we had a
(03:16):
kind of years.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
What we ended up doing, Jan was I had sort
of come up with my vision for the film, which
was the first word that's here first amongst the first
words you hear Surgeon used in the film, serendipity.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Serendipity.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
He's always referred to his life as a series of
magical encounters and that his life could have gone this way,
could have gone that way, but this magical encounter took
place and took him off into a particular direction. But
also I was very impressed by how he would have
the same ups and downs in a career that most
musicians have, and in every decade he found a way
(03:54):
to continue to be relevant, to find a way to
tweak his sound to make it important for the people
of that era. And that's a rare thing. A lot
of artists sort of have their little moment and then
that's it. But here is Sergio fifty some years later,
still relevant, still out there, performing, still recording, and we
tried to capture all of that in this film.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Literally amazing career. Yeah, I so really, you know, the
serendipity was, as you say, it's it's you know, your life,
And I so relate to that because I feel the
same way. My life has been the same way. Very serendipity,
you know, and so it's wonderful to see that and
how you know, things like Gwen Lanni Hall left decided
(04:36):
to leave to pursue her personal life. You you know,
that was a big blow for you at the time, Sergio,
and yet out of that something amazing and wonderful happened.
Do you want to tell us a little bit about
that story.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Yes, of course, you know, as you've seen in the movie,
you know, Lenny was from the beginning. She was a
big part of the sound of Brazil sixty six. But
I also knew that she was in love with her
and was a natural thing. Both were in love with
each other and made a decision to leave the band,
and I understood, you know, I was a little set
(05:10):
more than anything said, because you know, now here I
go to start something again, a different sound, which I did,
and luckily I had met my wife, got singing in
Brazil and another shoes a great another great singer, great sound,
and so that kind of substitute the sound that I
had with Loney. And you know, a lot of a
lot of times in the band when you say you
(05:32):
lose your drummer or the singer, it's a very important thing,
you know, but substitute somebody has been with you for
a long time. But it worked out wonderful and we've
been together now for almost forty eight years and a
great I mean, she's sings, she sung in my all
my albums from after that, and she's just a pleasure
having her life and on the album so you know,
(05:52):
things turn out to.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Be great, you know, jan This is one of the
other things we tried to capture in Surgery A. Mendez
and the key of joy is I was struck immediately
when I met Sergio with how relentlessly optimistic he is. Yes,
he always views the world with great positivity. And there's
a good example. He could have really had a big
problem when Lonnie left, but it's like, okay, you know,
(06:13):
on to the next and let let's let's be positive
about this, right. And I think that's a really important thing,
and it's to be celebrated to to have a life
like that and have a career like that viewed through
the lens of positivity. And I think, you know, these
days there's so much darkness in the world. Yes, yes,
that having a story about somebody that's it's all about joy.
(06:36):
It's all about putting a smile on people's faces. That's
what's really important. And that's what our film tries to do.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Oh, it definitely does it does you know, definitely puts
a big smile on your face and you're happy when
you're leaving the film, you know, in the end of
the film and you're singing and that's you know, all
the wonderful music that you know Sergio has produced over
all of these wonderful years. As they say, one door closes,
another one open, you know, and that's that. And you know,
it's like whenever we think something really bad is happening,
(07:06):
you know, if you can, just like you do, very positively,
just go okay, I know something better is coming along,
you know, and you just take it with a grain
of salt and you move on to what's next and
know that something positive is going to come out of that.
And here you met your beautiful wife, and as you say,
you've been together almost forty eight years and you get
to travel together all the time and perform together. How
wonderful is that? Because I'm sure the treasure yes, I mean,
(07:30):
I'm sure it would be. It was very hard on
your first marriage with you traveling all the time, I'm sure,
and your three with three children, I think you had
so very very difficult. And then when you met Graziela,
then you were able to travel and be together. So
that's very positive, very positive. What did you john for
(07:50):
you and putting together this documentary? What was the thing
that you learned about Sergio that you had no idea
about what was the surprise for you.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I would say two things, jan First, is his career
career pre coming to America. Excuse me, his career before
he came to America was largely unknown to people here
and myself included. To learn that he was a pioneer
(08:22):
of a particular school of Basanova. In our film, there's
a Brazilian journalist named Nelson Mota who calls it heavy Bossa.
And to know that Sergio was really a pioneer of
that and he was a large figure in the Brazilian
music scene, that was an important thing to have learned.
(08:44):
And then we have a story that I didn't find
in any of my research that Sergia was arrested during
the military coup in nineteen sixty four, and Sergio tells
that story very eloquently in the film. And it's how
that impact his life there and then how it prompted
him to come to America, and all of that I
(09:05):
think was a critical event in his evolution as a
person and as an artist. And I'm glad we stumbled
across that. Y.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Do you want to tell us a little bit more
about that event and how it changed.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Yeah, yeah, this I'm talking about nineteen sixty four. Beginning
like April, we had a kind of a revolution with
the military taking over. It was really a dark moment
in Brazilian history. And so as a musician, you know,
there are all military people that they didn't.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Like the arts.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
They didn't like musicians or painters, or so they arrested
me thinking that I was. I sented a telegram to
a friend of mine, a painter, very important painter, and
they thought that was the key of the you know
that I was communicated in a special language. So it
was so so realistic to me to leave that experience,
and my first son was just born. So at the combination,
(09:57):
I said, wow, this is going to get worse than
work here, which it did, by the way, it did.
You know Brazil from sixty four, I would say to
seventy something was really horrible. It was people getting arrested
and tortured. And so I decided to come to America again,
and I was like, Okay, I'm going to start something
fresh after having great bands in Brazil, instrumental bands, and
(10:19):
that's what I did, and I the best thing I've
done in my life was to make that decision and
to do and come over to live here?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
And what was your first experience, so our audience knows
once you got to America and where did you go
initially and how did your career career evolve from that
point of coming to the States.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
I start playing clubs in town. There was a club
called Shelley's man Hole.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Now where was the drummer? Where did you come to first?
I came to La.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
I came to.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
La, Yes, and I started playing clubs around town here.
We played the Lighthouse in Herma's Beach, We played the
Sheallist man Hole and auditioning. I made a record for
Capitol Records, Brazil sixty five and then the band they
all went back to Brazil and I stayed by myself
and okay we go again, started over and that has been,
(11:08):
you know, the story of my life. You know, when
you have bands, you know people sometimes they stay longer,
sometimes they leave. But I knew that that was the
place for me to be. And I'm very happy that
I made that decision. And you know, I met so
many people here and made records with other musicians. So yeah,
that was at the beginning nineteen sixty five in.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
La and when and how did you meet Herb Alpert?
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Yeah, so when when we were auditioning the band for
record companies, had a friend of mine that had studios
recording studio in Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, and many record
executives came to hear the band. That was a very
normal thing in those days. You know, there's a band
playing town, and then you know, other people would come
in and would play a couple of songs. And so
(11:54):
one day came Herb Alpert and Jerry moss A and
m and they heard the band and they said, we
love you sound. Then we have a new starting a
new label right now. And because Herb had a huge success,
do you want to breass instrumental band? And they signed
me to Ay and them. That was the beginning, and
that was the beginning.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
How exciting the beginning.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Another beginning of it, many many beginnings. If you were
just tuning in, you're listening to the Jam Price Show
all about movies, and today my guest are legendary musician
Sergio Mendez and amazing director John Seinfeld, and we're talking
about the new documentary Sergio Mendez and The Key of Joy.
(12:35):
Now you had John, you've had quite. You have quite
a few people on in this film who you were
able to recruit to talk about Sergio, and one of
those people is Harrison Ford and he was recently on
Jimmy Kimball. I don't know, Jimmy Kimmel. I don't know
if you saw this or not. He did, okay, yes,
(12:56):
we did, Okay, So I'll just leave the background. They
showed a picture of you and Harrison Ford in his
half naked body when he was really hot. But he
constructed your music see, not that he's still not hot.
He constructed your music studio. So tell us a little
bit about that story because it's really funny and he
(13:17):
was very funny. And I'm Jimmy Kimmel.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Well, he's wonderful in our film. Yeah. In my documentaries,
I always try to have one or two people that
are unexpected to the point where someone will look at
this and say, well, what the heck are they doing
in this film? And we have two in this documentary.
The first one is Pele, the legendary soccer player. Not
(13:40):
only is he in the film talking about Sergio and
how Sergio impacted his life, but we got them to
sing together. And it may be the first time on
film that the Peile sings, but certainly singing with Sergio.
And the second one was Harrison Ford. And Sergio had
shown me before potograph that you're referring to of Sergio
(14:03):
with a young Harrison Ford and his construction crew, and
it was like, wow, that's interesting. And then Sergio told
me the story which he will tell you in a moment,
and I thought, well, we've got to go get Harrison Ford.
So I reached out to his publicist and said, here's
who I am, this is what we're doing, and we
would love to have Harrison do an interview. And with
(14:25):
great attitude, this publicist said, well, why would he want
to do that. He's sort of notorious for not liking
to do interviews at all. This is true, but certainly
why Sergio Mende. She had no idea, so I said,
just ask him, and a couple of days went by
and she called back, very sheepishly, and she said, well,
we're all stune. He wants to do it. And people
(14:47):
who come to see Sergio Mendez in the Key of
Joy will just laugh. He's very droll, and he and
Sergio tell this story, which we shouldn't tell in too
much details. People ought to really see it in the film,
but social can you know it can give you a
sort of his impression of Harrison at that age.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Yeah, I was, well, I had this house in Encino
and that was a very large backyard, and I said,
I want to it's time for me. I want to
build my dream studio so I can make records here.
And and uh so I started asking people around, you know,
do you know anybody that's so A friend of mine said, oh,
(15:29):
I know, this carpenter is great friend of mine. So
here comes Harrison one morning with a long hair. And again,
you know, I was one of those you know, very
very very nice and very warm. And again I don't
want to tell too much because it's in the film,
but it was a great again and another great encounter.
(15:50):
I like him immediately. I never asked him if he
has done anything like that before. I just liked the guy,
and I said, let's do it. Let's start, and you're on.
So it was like that, and then we had such
a it is an incredible job. I mean as far
as carpentry, you know, it's like he was a great,
very you know, a very detailous person and you know,
(16:14):
and it was a great thing. So for like almost
a year I had him work on the studios some
of his friends and they did a magnificent job, and
I started making music there.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
And we had such a good time with Harrison doing
the interview. And this particularly the way the way we
finished the interview is just hysterical and people should come
to the film and see it.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I agree, I totally agree, And you're right, Harrison Ford
does not like to be interviewed. It was very clear
when you watched Jimmy Kimball. He was very uncomfortable. He
kept moving in his seat. But he's very funny. He's
very funny, and he will play. He came out and
played that night on Jimmy Kimmel. But he did the
same in your film too, which was it is. It's
(16:59):
a It's wonderful. You've got so many great people. You've
got you know again, Lannie Hall and Herb Alpert, you know,
who were very instrumental in the early part of your career, Surgio,
and obviously your relationship has continued to be good through
these years. But with the difficulty even though to get
them involved. And I know John, you're doing and a
(17:21):
documentary about Herb Albert correct.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Has not been publicly announced yet, but yes, we just finished.
It'll be out later this year.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Oh great.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
It was not as you can imagine. It was not
the least bit difficult to get Herb and Lannie to
do interviews. They're still great friends with Sergio and Grassinia
and so they were thrilled to do it. You know,
I must say this was one of the easier documentaries
I've done in terms of getting people to do interviews.
(17:54):
Sergio so beloved that really so, whether it's pelet or
Harrison Ford, that was really easy. But we also have
Will I Am, we have common we had John Legend,
we have Quincy Jones. So we're packed with a lot
of really interesting people who have very interesting things to
(18:16):
say about Sergio.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yes, they all do. They all do Sergio. Are you
in the documentary for Herb Albert, heee?
Speaker 4 (18:25):
I did an interview was John? And of course I
mean this with the questions that, you know, how important
was him in my life and so forth? So yeah,
I'm there.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I would assume that you would be.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Well.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
The response to this documentary at the Santa Barbara International
Film Festival was just amazing. Everybody was standing up and
cheering and applotting and just loved it. It was a
great As I said, it was one of the highlights
of the film festival this year. Can people see this
movie now that is it out yet? Are you playing
(19:04):
some more film festivals or is it going to be
on Netflix or somewhere or released on the theaters? How
can people see that?
Speaker 3 (19:12):
As we're doing this interview, it is being discussed. Okay,
the model for a lot of documentaries is to have
your world premiere at the prestigious film festival, and so
we did that at Santa Barbara. And I remember surgery
and how we're going to do a Q and A
(19:32):
after the film, and so as soon as the last
image of the film hit, I sort of snuck up
to Sergio's seat and he and I started to walk
backstage to do the Q and A and this massive
ovation and I just I turned around and said, look
at what they're doing for you, and and it was
just it was just it was amazing. But armed with
(19:53):
that and with the press coverage that we received as
a result, that really sort of jump started our distribution efforts.
And so we now have a distributor who is handling
the film outside of the US, and we are in
conversations with potential people here in the US and Canada,
(20:17):
and we hope that in a few weeks we'll be
able to make an announcement as to where and when
people will be able to see Sergio A. Mendez in
the Key of Joy.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
Great, Great, everybody should see this film. It just makes
you happy, and you're right. With so many things going
on in today's world, lots of things going on in
today's world, to have a film where you're uplifted and
you feel great afterwards is just a joy. It's a joy,
(20:50):
the whole movie is. And it's the perfect title, you know,
is Sergio A. Mendez and the Key of Joy. So
I highly recommend it to everyone. Thank you both for
being on the show. It's just been a real pleasure.
That time STIPs by so quickly, but I look forward
to having you back on again, and we're gonna end.
You're so welcome, You're so welcome, and we're gonna end
(21:11):
the show listening to one of my favorite songs from Sergil,
the Fool on the Hill.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
Day after day.
Speaker 7 (21:25):
On a hill, the man that the foolish grin is
keeping perfectly.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
Still nobody wants no help. I can see the dist.
Speaker 7 (21:39):
He never gets an answer of the food. The Hill
sees the sun going down and then on.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
His head see the spinning round.
Speaker 7 (22:09):
Whether his way's heading. The Pang of the thousand voyas
talking perfectly loud. Nobody ever hears him send things to pay,
and he never.
Speaker 5 (22:27):
Sings no, that's not. The pool.
Speaker 7 (22:32):
Sees the sun going down and me eyes sis.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
Heir see the wor spinning rod.
Speaker 6 (23:14):
The one is saying I can't I can tell what
he wants to do, and he never shows his female
Not the fool love mother Hill sees the sun go
along down and by up instead see the wood.
Speaker 5 (23:42):
Spinning rock.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
You can listen to the Jam Price Show All about
movies anywhere, anytime on the iHeart podcast Network, Spotify, Google podcast,
Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and on your smart TV. Also go
to the jamprishow dot com to listen to any shows
that you may have missed and to listen to the
Price movie minute movie reviews.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
It's John Power Talk AM fourteen sixty and them one
oh one point one, streaming worldwide on iHeartRadio. Jam Price
talks to the movers and shakers in the film business.
The Jam Price show,
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.