A popular term among bloggers is jump the shark, which refers to an overreaching attempt for popularity. Coolfer rarely -- if ever -- uses the term, but it's the thing that comes to mind when reading about and hearing tracks from the new album by Brazilian music great Sergio Mendes.

With his new album, Timeless, has Sergio jumped the shark? Only time and consumers will tell, because anything short of incredible success will mark this project as a failure. Sales and a connection with younger generations is obviously the point here. The casting of the album's guests is from a page out of Carlos Santana's "How To Get Back In the Top 10" playbook: guests include Justin Timberlake, Erykah Badu, India.Arie, John Legend, Will.I.Am (who was the album's producer) and Q-Tip.

Will it succeed? One reason it could very well succeed is its label, Concord Records/Starbucks Hear Music, the same label that put Ray Charles back atop the charts, Timeless is going to greatly benefit from sales in Starbucks stores just as Charles did. (Read this MSN Money article about Starbucks and Charles' Genius Loves Company.)

And because he's serious about courting youth, Sergio has a MySpace page and a February 8th listening party at APT, one of Manhattan's more hip music clubs.