Bajune Tobeta, Gracinha Leporace, Saigenji & Febian Reza Pane - Sergio Mendes Tribute (2026) [Hi-Res]

Released two years after his passing, on the eve of the anniversary of his death, Sergio Mendes Tribute is an album conceived and produced by Bajune Tobeta — entrepreneur, producer, songwriter and arranger — gathering musicians from Brazil, Japan, the United States and beyond, beginning with Sérgio's wife, Gracinha Leporace, and recorded in Tokyo, Los Angeles and Rio.

It is clear that for Bajune Tobeta, Sérgio Mendes's music was not only his point of origin but, in his very posture as a musician, something like a master's example. That devotion moved Sérgio's wife, Gracinha Leporace, and led to an extraordinary collaboration: Gracinha herself singing "Mas Que Nada."

"This project began from a single point: the wish for Gracinha Leporace to sing 'Mas Que Nada.'

If this was to be a tribute to Sérgio, at its center there had to be the voice of Gracinha, who sang beside him through half a century of his musical life. And 'Mas Que Nada' is at once the signature of Brasil '66 and a song that symbolizes the musical life the two of them shared. Only with Gracinha singing it could this album become not 'a well-made collection of covers' but a farewell from his family. That is what I believed.

Happily, Gracinha embraced this wish, and from the very beginning the project took its shape not as a mere guest appearance but as a tribute album officially sanctioned by the family and the estate. Every choice of repertoire and every arrangement is built upon that foundation.

Marianna Leporace, of Sérgio and Gracinha's family, and other family members also joined the recording on chorus."

- Bajune Tobeta