An incredible, hard-to-describe classic from Jorge Ben. It opens with a funky, feverishly strummed chord sequence, and builds up beautifully. Warm strings come in, while the vocals become more and more manic (in a good way). I really can't do this song justice in words, but I urge you to check it out. Jorge Ben really is a genius songwriter, and his backing group, 'trio mocoto' really rock.
from Forca Bruta available on CD - mojo club volume 4 (Polygram Germany)
17 Sep 03 ·sodapop650: My favorite Jorge Ben is his work on the LP "Tudo Azul" by Ze Maria. If you are not familiar with Ze Maria he is a very hip brazilian organist. The easy comparison whould be with Walter Wanderley, but he is way way cooler with a chimelike reverbed style and a lot darker sound, almost creepy voodoo northern Brazil Bahia sound like the way "Os Afrosambas" by Baden Powell Vinicius de Moraes and Quarteto Em Cy is. A guy I work with is from Brazil and says that although just about everyone is Catholic in Brazil many practice voodoo too and that Vinicius made a pact with the Devil in return for his career - There is something distant and weird about that LP - and the Ze Maria LP as well. Anyway, I think "Tudo Azul" which is available on CD is the first versions of Ben classics Mas Que Nada and Por Causa de Voce Menina. If you go on to ebay look for a guy named Alan Bastos, he sells tons of cool Brazilian CDs cheap. 01 Oct 03 ·tinks: was this recorded in '69? it's the first track on his '76 "samba nova" lp...is that a re-recording, or what? can somebody shed some light for me? at any rate, it's a great album for, uh, "lovin'". my favorite track would have to be "vendedor de bananas cosa nostra--bicho do mato", if not for its unwieldly title alone. 17 Oct 03 ·sodapop651: No this LP is on Continental Label and recorded in 1963. It is available on CD. Tudo Azul, I think it means "everything Blue" 18 Oct 03 ·tinks: the version i have is definitely not from 63, it's waaay too funky. 18 Oct 03 ·delicado: I'm confused about the whole thing. I have no idea where I originally got 1969 from (other than that the arrangement suggested it); the song is on 'Forca Bruta', which I thought was from 1975, but I think in retrospect that's just the date of the copy my (appalling quality) LP was bootlegged from. 21 Oct 03 ·delicado: Ok. It turns out there's a pretty good Jorge Ben discography at http://www.uol.com.br/benjor/disco.htm, which confirms the date of Forca Bruta as 1970. I think sodapop was talking about the (completely separate) Ze Maria album. I heard 'mas que nada' from this album, and it was indeed excellent. 02 May 04 ·Marco-Visitante: Official and completes discography of Jorge Ben Jor is here:
http://www.jorgebenjor.com.br/sec_discogra_discos.php?language=en
05 May 04 ·sodapop650: But I've changed my mind. My new favorite Ben classic is "Carnaval Triste" of the Sacundin LP. There is also a great Ze Maria cover of it off an even earlier LP I'm not sure who penned it or recorded it first. But its meditative and chantlike and very voodoo.
An incredible, stomping brazilian pop number, taken from Elis Regina's legendary album 'Elis Regina in London', recorded in England in 1969. Here she takes on the Jorge Ben classic 'zazueira', a seductive, hip, upbeat stomper of a track which just makes you smile every time you hear it. Wonderful stuff.
21 Oct 03 ·heinmukk: you're right. this one makes you smile.
i knew this song before from the mtv unplugged album from jorge ben jor. but this old cut is much more nicer, because...hm, maybe because it's older. :)
I don't have much to say, but this song sends a chill down my spine everytime I hear it. It's the first Ben recording that really "clicked" for me and has held up to countless listens.
from A T�bua de Esmeralda, available on CD (Philips)
A very funky track from Astrud's final US album. Very bass-heavy and percussive, just an excellent song. Stanley Turrentine's tenor sax doesn't meld with Gilberto's voice nearly as well as Stan Getz' warmer tones did, but that's a minor flaw that doesn't detract from the overall song too much.
from Gilberto with Turrentine (CTI), available on CD (Columbia)
A storming upbeat bossa on the A & M label, produced by Sergio Mendes. It's a short track which sounds essentially like Mendes's Brasil '66 only better. Walter Wanderley or someone who sounds very like him adds some great touches on the organ, and the singers steal a refrain from Bacharach's then-current 'Casino Royale' movie theme 'Bond Street' and work it into the chorus. Really great stuff, written by a genius: Jorge Ben.
08 May 01 ·tinks: hey, bossa rio!! i have their "alegria!" lp on blue thumb, which was also produced by sergio mendes. really great covers of "spinning wheel", "blackbird", "girl talk", and a few more jorge ben tunes. 08 May 01 ·tinks: ...including the ben song "zazueira", which, coincidentally, i have recommended astrud gilberto & stanley turrentine's version of! 19 May 04 ·cambo: I was interested to note that the bass line from Jorge Ben's Saiupa as played by Bossa Rio (1969)(listen for break after long chorus) sounds remarkably like Gordon Gano's "Gone Daddy Gone" (1980). Is there any aknowledgement from GG on the Violent Femmes album?