My latest for @latimesimage is on the legendary Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes @sergiomendesmusic who built his career in LA after moving here in 1964 to escape the Brazilian dictatorship. Since then his music has always mixed Brazilian and American styles, Portuguese and English lyrics. His music, to me, is about the pull toward home, as well as the thrill of assimilating with another culture. It’s about “saudade,” a word in Portuguese used to express the presence of absence, an admixture of joy and pain. Thank you @i2theb for letting me write this and for the stellar editorial support. Thank you @mikebonez for the BOMB collage. Also, still processing that I actually got to Zoom with Mendes, who is today 80 years old and still performing with jubilant energy.