Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66: Pretty World
Track
Pretty World
Artist
Sergio Mendes (keyboards)
CD
20th Century Masters-The Millennium Collection (A&M 000750802)
Musicians:
Sergio Mendes (keyboards), Lani Hall (vocals), Karen Philipp (vocals), Oscar Castro-Neves (guitar), Sebastiao Neto (bass), Dom Um Romao (percussion).
Composed by Antonio Adolfo, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, and Tiberio Gaspar
.Recorded: Los Angeles, early 1969
Rating: 95/100 (learn more)
"Pretty World" is a light, upbeat bossa nova utilizing musical orchestration that still stands as a firm symbol of the era in which it was created. The tune is built around the 60s cocktail jazz sound, with vocalist Lani Hall crooning at the lounge and everyone else riding the lazy hi-hat downbeat amidst lyrics calling for making "breakfast and love." The influence of Herb Alpert is all over this track in the sense that the formula is ultimately the same one that Alpert's Tijuana Brass (and other A&M jazz artists, for that matter) mined towards commercial success. Even though the message could be considered dated, the composition is ace, and the tune was obviously ready for mass consumption from the beginning due to the strength of its hook, its outstanding chorus (featuring some of Hall's most precise vocals), and a clear concept that never steps outside the box that it constructs for itself.
Reviewer: Marcus Singletary
Tags: 1960s jazz · bossa nova
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