Before I get into this issue’s column, I ask that our readership put good vibes and prayers into the universe for a good friend of mine who, always being the optimist, is in the last stage of her life, something that part of me refuses to accept. “Didn’t she sound so strong and vital on the phone today? How could she be so ill?”

But a part of me says that it is so. So please put those good vibes and prayers into the universe so that she can be either healed or be comfortable and loved during this time.

***

Earlier this month, it came across the wire, so to speak, that Sergio Mendes had died. I first heard Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 back during my high school years and before. My brother Jim — who is six years older than I and loves jazz of all sources — would play their album at my parents’ house in the mid to late 1960s. I would listen to the album from afar. And later on, who could forget their rendition of “The Look of Love.” It was very sexy, even to a young and naive person like myself.

I wasn’t necessarily a fan of Sergio and never bought an album, but when I read the article about his death, I felt a loss. He was quoted as saying, “I’ve been very fortunate to have had such experiences because that has enriched my life. Working with different people from different countries, from different cultures, I think it just helps you grow and learn new things. … I love that because you don’t program that; it’s about the magical encounter. I think it’s a beautiful thing in life.”