The sound and band that served
Sergio Mendes well on
Fool on the Hill remain intact on
Crystal Illusions, with few modifications.
Dave Grusin is right there with a lush, haunting orchestral chart when needed;
Lani Hall is thrust further into the vocal spotlight, as cool and alluring as ever in Portuguese or English.
Mendes remained on the lookout for fresh Brazilian tunes, and he came up with a coup, one of the earliest covers of a
Milton Nascimento tune to reach North America, "Vera Cruz" (with
Hall's English lyrics, it became "Empty Faces"), as well as
Dori Caymmi's "Dois Dias." The two singles, the perky "Pretty World" and sax-streaked cover of
Otis Redding's "The Dock of the Bay," are nice slices of
Mendes pop, though they were not significant hits. And yes,
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 did take a large risk on the title track, a lengthy, kaleidoscopic treatment of an
Edu Lobo tune that, inspired perhaps by "MacArthur Park," shattered radio's time barrier at seven minutes and 50 seconds. Yet while
Grusin goes into a psychedelic freakout, we get a rare chance to hear
Mendes stretch out a bit on electric piano. Weird and overblown, but wonderful.