Jorge Ben "Africa Brasil" 1976 Brazil Latin Funk,Samba Rock one of best Brazil album ever recorded…. .recommended…!
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https://open.spotify.com/album/0esHQqYklDPje00NUNq6py
A landmark recording that is one of Jorge Ben’s best albums ever! The album is a perfect realization of the way that Jorge mixes Brazilian rhythms with choppy Afro grooves – and the result is a masterpiece that yeilded some of his biggest tracks ever. Included here is the great choppy funk track “Ponta De Lanca”, plus loads of other goodies like “O Filosofo”, “Xica Da Silva”, “A Historia De Jorge”, and a great remake of “Taj Mahal” – probably his greatest cut ever. Great all the way through – and is a perfect introduction to Jorge Ben if you don’t know his work, and an essential addition to your collection if you do!…dusty groove….~
One of the best brazilian joints ever. you know how when brazilian dudes tried to get funky, it usually got mad corny (see: tim maia)? well, ya boy jorge ain’t respondin to any of that. this is just straight dope and it’s got heavy funk shit with a nice kind of afrobeat / traditional brazilian folk music edge to it. it’s got a nice variety too, with some slower jams up in the mix and a couple floor burners as well. i love most of this dude’s output, but this is a real good one to start with if you’re into that funk….~
This 1976 album is undoubtedly one of the greatest classics of Brazilian popular music, with Jorge Ben mixing funky samba, Afro-Brazilian beats, and crunching guitars to create one of the most fascinating sounds ever recorded in Brazil. The album kicks off with the raw, energetic “Ponta de Lança Africano,” and from there on it never slows down, but continues to pile up one fiery, funky gem after the other. The samba soul and samba funk scenes of the ‘70s in Brazil produced many great artists and many great recordings, fully comparable with the best soul and funk music recorded in the U.S. during the same period. Jorge Ben was the most prominent figure of this scene and África Brasil is probably the most famous of his '70s recordings. For any person who is interested in the music of Jorge Ben, or indeed Brazilian funk in general, there is no better sample of it than África Brasil….. by Philip Jandovský…~
Is this Jorge Ben’s best album? Or just my current favorite? I’m not sure, but the fact that it’s a contender for both spots means it’s also one of my favorite purchases over the past year—a sonic feast, an instant party whenever I put on my headphones.
For me, Ben calls to mind the Rolling Stones—like them, he’s put together a string of practically perfect albums, with “A Tabua de Esmeralda” and “Solta o Pavao” and this. (We’ll leave out “Gil e Jorge,” which was, frankly, an indulgent and unnecessary album, the byproduct of two stars in a studio with nobody around to edit them into reasonableness, the end result being that every song lasts about twice as long as it needs to.) Unlike those albums, this wasn’t available via digital download for a while, but I’d heard great things. In fact, its mythical allure almost single-handedly got me to start collecting records; I knew it was available as an import, so I never had to plan a trek to the Amazon, but I did find myself on multiple occasions salivating over the shrink-wrapped copy at the pricey record store in Evanston; had it not been for the whole wife-and-kids-and-financial-responsibilities thing, I would have shelled out the $100 (!) for their copy, AND bought a turntable, and come to it that way. As it was, my periodic hopeful searches in the other Amazon finally bore fruit. And now that I’ve had a few weeks to gorge myself, digest it, and gorge myself again, I’m pleased to report it’s tasty fruit indeed, worth even the immense expenditures I contemplated for the expedition I didn’t take into the heart of wife-aggravating darkness.
Sonically it’s a fall to Earth of sorts, from the lofty string experiments of “A Tabua de Esmeralda” to funky and primal horns. And lyrically, it’s nothing entirely new, covering Ben’s strange but by-1976-familiar mix of alchemy and mysticism and race. (He actually covers three of his own songs here—which in no way detracts from the album’s allure. For even his old tunes sound new, brilliantly repurposed as parts of a cohesive whole. If every artist covered themselves so effectively and inventively, I’d be completely fine with albums full of reworked tunes—it calls to mind Sinatra’s occasional reworkings of older songs on his excellent late-50s concept albums.) So even though it sounds more grounded than his past work, firmly entwined with his own personal Afro-Brazillian roots, quality-wise, this is Ben’s apotheosis, drawing nourishment and strength from those roots to bring his talents to full fruit and vibrant flower.
“Zumbi,” for instance, reworks a tune from “A Tabua de Esmeralda” celebrating the ruler of a colony of fugitive slaves. The previous version’s pleasant and airy and nostalgic; it’s a perfect fit for the string arrangements on that album, but if you listen to that version after the one here, it sounds like milquetoast. For here’s fire and passion and intensity, a riot of bright sonic colors.
The mood’s already apparent from the first note, though; Ben’s one of the few artists whose albums have ever hooked m from the very first notes of the very first listen. “Ponta De Lanca Africano” starts with surging funky guitars and builds perfectly, with drums and catchy vocals that you don’t have to understand to enjoy. (That can be a good thing. I don’t speak Portuguese, but I love Ben enough that I’ve done some Google translatin’, and a lot of his lyrics sound like scripts for episodes of “Ancient Aliens.” This was more evident on “Tabua de Esmeralda,” which was, after all, named after a key component of alchemy. But “Hermes Trismegisto Escreveu” shows up again here, enough to tell you he hasn’t changed his mind on this silliness.)
Still, this is first and foremost a celebration of what it means to be African-Brazilian. We Americans often get so caught up in our country’s troubled legacy of race and slavery that we forget how pervasive the issues were elsewhere in the Americas; indeed, more slaves were taken to Brazil than to the United States. And while Brazil ended the institution less violently, the aftermath was similar; the children of Europe and Africa often remained segregated, separate and unequal—at least in the eyes of the law, and society. Like many of his American contemporaries, though, Ben rightly refused to be ashamed of his heritage, rejecting the narratives of enslavement and subjugation and weakness, and instead celebrating stories of pride and empowerment.
He celebrates so loudly and proudly that the sounds of the party can’t help but reach us and draw us in, wherever we’re at, whatever our background. We may have missed the invite, but music’s an open party, and Ben throws the best ones around….by… Gerald Brennan….~
If the house was on fire and I could only rescue five CDs, this would be one of them. In my opinion, one of three major landmarks in Ben’s career (the first being writing “Mas que nada” and the second defining a whole new tropical sound on his 1969 self-titled album). 'África Brasil’ remains a landmark in Brazilian music well over thirty years after it was first released. The album includes the incredible “Ponta de lança africano (Umbabarauma)”; a song that spearheaded a hundred sounding rip-offs from artists all over Brazil. It also includes one of his greatest ever single releases “Xica da Silva”, about the legendary 18th century African slave, a track that would be released and re-released numerous times throughout the mid to late 70s across both Latin America and Europe. The album would also start a trend of including reworked versions of his songs from earlier albums; this time the inclusion of his hit single from a few years earlier, “Taj Mahal”, originally included on his 1971 'Ben’ album. Temporarily deleted and selling for extortionate prices on here; rumours are that a remastered edition is due out very soon. In one word: incredible…by…. OwenLondon…~
I’d heard other Jorge Ben releases previously and although I quite enjoyed them, this album is what sold me on him. It manages to combine most of what I love about funk and bossa nova music in one groovy colorfully memorable package (think Fela Kuti meets João Gilberto). Immediately after my first listen I was hooked, heck even though I can’t understand a word that he is saying I try to sing along any ways. This album contains three songs Ben previously released on with new arrangements, one of which being “Taj Mahal”. Why do you care about “Taj Mahal”? Well what makes it so interesting is that Rod Stewart was sued by Ben as he stole the melody for “Do You Think I’m Sexy” from it. It really does seem like it was rather influential to many island flavored post-punk music that followed. My favorite song on the album is the opener “Ponta de Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)” which kicks things off an a splendid note, but “Meus Filhos, Meu Tesoro” is close behind in greatness but it’s a very solid album overall. My only little tiny complaint is the over usage of a sound effect (not sure what it’s called) but it reminds me of what sound might be made if one squeezed a cuckoo bird. Definitely an album I’ll be addicted to for a very long time, there definitely aren’t many like this one though I wish there were….by….Goregirl ….~
The album that broke and spawned a new Jorge Ben. In this, he goes all “Electronic” on us - Electric guitars and keyboards and production effects are all over this record. Some of the mysticism that his earlier records had were unfortunately lost in the process, but in their place comes some of his tightest songwriting yet - Don’t let any of the fancy electric sounds fool you, this is as Jorge Ben as Jorge Ben can get, but rather than the sunny, children-filled streets in Brasil, it’s more akin to what people who don’t actually know all that much about Brasil, would normally associate with Brasil - Football (The lyrics), driving rhythms that scream of exotic dancing and dance clubs. Not that those associations are particularly wrong.
Somewhat more sleazy, but really every bit as good as anything that came before….by….Drug Use …~
For as terrible (but at least the hilarious sort of terrible) as “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” is, I really can’t blame Rod for borrowing from “Taj Mahal.” It’s hard to quite call it disco, but it’s certainly all about that disco aesthetic, the luxurious decadence that, for me, practically defines the genre, combined of course with a sort of charmingly kitsch exotica… nothing even remotely Indian about it other than the title, but it still really gets that sort of point across, and unlike Rod, he manages to do all of this without sounding like a parody of himself, because never for a moment do you feel that a potential joke aimed at someone else landed on Jorge instead.
Now, “Taj Mahal” is head and shoulders above the rest of this album, but the rest of this album happens to be pretty good. It’s also well-known for being Jorge’s “electric” album. Sure, there’d been hints of blues on his other albums, but nothing as blatant as what’s going on here: “Hermes Trismegisto Escreveu” has a guitar riff right out of Hendrix’s book, and “Ponta de Lanca Africano” is sort of blues rock. Now, me and blues rock don’t have the best history, which is why I find “O Filosofo” kind of cheesy, but this is samba blues rock, which in my book kicks a pretty good amount of ass. Not anywhere near as inspired as the samba disco-funk of “Taj Mahal,” but most people don’t even write one song as brilliant as “Taj Mahal,” and here I am asking for two (okay, to be fair, A Tábua de Esmeralda had four, but maybe I really am impossible to satisfy). Then again, when he tries samba disco-funk a second time, he ends up with “O Plebeu,” which isn’t bad, but is kind of annoying and dinky and has a bit of a “self-parody” thing going on. At least Ben’s voice is in fine form as always.
Side two is stronger than side one, because it gives itself fully to the funk thing, a genre I much prefer to blues rock. “Xica da Silva” sounds a little like Santana to me, albeit much more band-oriented. And there’s a cool guitar solo! “A Historia de Jorge,” which I assume is autobiographical, is almost as great as “Taj Mahal,” thanks to the dramatic horns and propulsive dance beat. Some people might not be into the sci-fi synths or porno wah, but I think they fit the song just fine; “Cavaleiro do Cavalo Imaculado” is much along the same lines, with a cool vocal melody that has an almost Arabic feel about it. “Camisa 10 da Gavea’s” combination of funk groove, whistles, and… um, what do you call that one Brazilian instrument with a sort of hooting sound to it? Well, regardless of what it’s called, this reminds me of On the Corner in some sort of alternate universe where it was the soundtrack to an amazingly fun time and not a journey into the darkest, most warped recesses of the human psyche. That might not be an easy thing to imagine, but give it a go, huh? For me, Billy. McGarnigal. I’ve probably used that one before, but I love it so much that I don’t care. The only time blues comes back here is with “Africa Brasil’s” intro, but it’s in the form of a cool piano line, before an orgy psychedelic samba-funk kicks off and basically puts me in heaven.
So part of me wishes that Ben had just made this his funk-disco-samba album, but the blues stuff on the first side works well enough. The main event here is, of course, “Taj Mahal,” but the consistent greatness (and frequent brilliance) of the side that follows cements this as a great, great album. One of Ben’s best? Well, I’ve only heard four of his albums, so it’s hard to quite make that call. But if you’re even vaguely interested in MPB, make this a priority….by….finulanu ….~
My first exposure to Ben was through his songs on Beleza Tropical, not through Brazilian radio in my youth, so it’s not surprising that the first thing that really caught my ear was that compilation’s lead track “Umbabarauma” and not unreasonable for me to expect more of his music to sound like that. Which is why this album is such a pleasure, scratching an itch that I’ve had since first being exposed to him and finding that while he has a lot of great music, “Umbabarauma” is just one part of the picture. But it’s the leader not just of a solid compilation, but of the album that in my mind I wanted to hear - this album, to be more specific. It’s already been noted - the use of funk, rock, and soul in more strictly Brazilian forms, especially the samba, and while Americans like myself are fond of claiming those things we’re hearing that we grew up with, there’s no avoiding that it’s called Africa Brasil and not America Brasil, and - most notably on the closing title track - that idea really comes out and hits you, especially in the drums, even if the guitars sing more North America than West Africa. Anyway, like I say, this is the Jorge Ben album I have been waiting to hear since I first heard Ben at all; it’s what i imagined he did when I first heard him; what I kept hoping I’d pick up once I’d started listening to him; and what has satisfied a longtime craving now that I’ve finally gotten it. Now to fill in his 1960’s….by….nervenet….~
Jorge Ben (now Jorge Ben Jor) may not be the most obscure name in Brazilian music history. In fact he’s received numerous honors worldwide and continues to do so even today. Still, with regard to American popular culture, Ben’s moment in the sun flashed in the 60’s/70’s and has long since faded. His breakout hit “Mas Que Nada” was his only charting single here, and even that was just after it was covered in 1966 by Sergio Mendes (and still today is the only Portuguese language song that has ever charted on Billboard). Today your average American has probably never heard of Jorge Ben, much less listened to him. This is a shame because within Ben’s long musical history there is a great deal of excellent tunes which undeniably played a part in shaping popular music worldwide.
While there are a number of different potential starting points for entering into the world of Jorge Ben, for the more experimentally inclined, his mid seventies records is probably the most fertile ground to cover. Out of these Africa Brasil is as good a place to start as any. The 1976 record marks one of Ben’s creative peaks, blending diverse elements of jazz, funk, rock as well as African styles. Though primarily known as a samba/bossa nova artist, with Africa Brasil Ben really explores outside the lines of Brazilian tradition.
The record begins on a very strong note with “Ponta de Lança Africano (Umbabarauma),” an incredibly catchy tune that combines pulsing drums, a funky bassline, as well as a backup choir to produce a throbbing, almost menacing funk sound. Further on you might recognize the melody from Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy,” in brassy bossa nova piece “Taj Majal” (Ben successfully sued Stewart for plagiarism resulting in the former donating the song’s profits to UNICEF). Shortly after dreamy Tropicalia ballad “Xica De Silva,” (renamed “Chica De Silva” for Western markets) gave the record its only single outside of Brazil. Further afield Ben flirts with disco (“Historia De Jorge”) West African guitar (“Cavaleiro do Cavalo Imaculado”) as well as the bizarre (psychedelic funk stew “Zumbi”). Throughout all his stylistic ramblings though, Ben still makes every inch of Africa Brasil sound Brazilian to the core. This is most often evident through Ben’s emplyment of the unmistakable squeak of the Cuica drum, an instrument which makes few appearances in non-Brazilian music (aside from Nelly Furtado who is best forgotten about).
Jorge Ben, like many of his contemporaries of the time, was also a very actively political commentator in much of his music. This element of his style is generally lost on non-Portuguese understanding ears. But fortunately, the music of Africa Brasil is good enough to stand up despite not even knowing what Ben is singing about. Ben’s tunes may largely be lost in the wash of music that has come before and (especially) since, but if you were looking to re-discover a treasure of the past, you could certainly do a lot worse than Africa Brasil….Jon Behm….~
While many of the performers during the heyday of Tropicalia and the rise of MPB (música popular brasileira) opted for a more radical stance in their challenge to Brazil’s political and cultural authorities, artists like Jorge Ben took a more understated approach. Rather than use overly theatrical performance to shock the audience or write songs loaded with political content, Ben became known as one of the country’s great musical alchemists, a furiously eclectic songwriter who combined elements of indigenous Brazilian music with a groove from the west coast of Africa. Never a controversial figure in the manner of the tropicalistas like Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, Ben became one of the most respected and resilient figures in Brazilian pop.
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1940, Ben took up bossa nova guitar playing after hearing João Gilberto but found the style too complex to execute. This led to his developing his own approach to the bossa nova that focused on playing the guitar as one would a bass – his early recordings are in fact bass-less. His first big hit as a singer/songwriter came at the age of 23 with “Mas, Que Nada.” The song’s subtle bossa nova groove proved so seductive that it was quickly covered by a number of Brazilian artists, most successfully by Sergio Mendes. During the military dictatorship’s cultural crackdown in the late '60s Ben, whose music wasn’t scrutinized as rigorously as that of tropicalistas like Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, was able to perform without too much trouble into the early '70s. Still, he felt the long arm of Brazilian censorship when a 1971 performance was stopped in midsong because censors felt as though Ben’s backup singers were dancing too suggestively.
It was from the late '60s to mid-'70s that Ben established himself as a songwriting force within Brazil. Over the next ten to 15 years he expanded his reach, with varying success, to Europe and America (he’s more popular in Europe than America). In 1989 he released the album Benjor, simultaneously announcing that he was changing his last name to Benjor. During that same time period Ben realized his dream of working with prominent African musicians when he collaborated with Nigeria’s King Sunny Ade, and also was represented on an anthology of Brazilian music compiled by former Talking Head David Byrne. Although not as politically radical as many of his contemporaries, Ben proved that in certain contexts and under unusually repressive restraint, music takes on a radical political dimension. ~ John Dougan….~
1976, Rio de Janeiro. Revered Brazilian pop musician Jorge Ben Jor, known for his `samba-rock’ fusions and hits such as `Pais Tropical’ and `Mas que Nada’, picks up the electric guitar and records the album Africa Brasil. With grooves structured around guitar and horn riffs, funk drumming, samba percussion, and hypnotic vocal refrains, this album has become a favorite of connoisseurs of 1970s Brazilian vinyl. It was part of the growing cultural negritude of the time in Brazil, especially in Rio. American musicians such as James Brown were increasingly influential there; meanwhile, disco began to reach the city’s nightclubs, and a few musicians were getting hip to Afrobeat. Through a close examination of the tracks on this seminal album, this book explores how Jorge Ben Jor and fellow musicians created a new sound, and it probes how ideas about blackness, Africa, and Brazilian identity were evolving during the mid-1970s. Written in a clear style and based on new research, it offers an engaging narrative that will appeal to fans, students, and scholars. 33 1/3 Global, a series related to but independent from 33 1/3, takes the format of the original series of short, music-basedbooks and brings the focus to music throughout the world. With initial volumes focusing on Japanese and Brazilian music, the series will also include volumes on the popular music of Australia/Oceania, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and more……~
Never has Brazilian music been as funky as this. The colour and hustle of Rio de Janeiro’s streets sits alongside the tight funk of James Brown and Fela Kuti on an album increasingly being thought of as Jorge Ben’s crowning achievement. The glittering guitar work, insistent vocals and bursting melodies are the same as he’s always used but there’s a power to the band that wasn’t completely there before and a rawness which would soon be lost in the eighties.
Opening track “Ponta De Laca Africano (Umbabaraúma)” starts the album with one of the densest grooves Ben has ever concocted. It also continues one of Ben’s main lyrical themes, that of football. Umbabaraúma is the name given to dribbling the ball past the opponents. It’s almost startling when you see the English translation of lyrics as the song is built like a chant. Here’s one of the verses:
Play ball play ball ball player
Play ball I want to play ball ball player
Jump, jump, fall, get up, go up and get down
Run, kick, find a hole, thrill and give thanks
See how the whole city empties out
On this beautiful afternoon to watch you play
Another two songs take football as their main theme on this disc; “Meus Filhos, Meu Tesouro” and “Camisa 10 da Gavea”. It’s one of his enduring qualities that Ben has always stayed clear of songs with political intent, choosing instead to write about themes from which any Brazilian can find joy. That he’s held in the same regard as heavyweight songwriters such as Chico Buarque and Caetano Veloso is testament to how good these songs actually are.
This album includes two particular songs which have gone on to become stoned-on classics. “Taj Mahal”, which had featured as an improvisational jam on his collaboration with Gilberto Gil from the previous year, was here reinvented as a disco-funk tour-de-force. Some people see this as the step that Ben made away from Samba Funk and towards Samba Disco. It is definitely true that later albums would be far more disco’d up, but this should in no way detract from this track. It is impossible to sit still as the beat kicks in on this number, before the hushed words ‘Taj Mahal’ get the ball rolling and both an irresisitible verse and chorus leave no moment of rest for the song’s entirety.
“Xica da Silva” is another song which has gone on to become a staple, appearing in different guises on future Ben albums. It also brings up one of the other themes of the album, it’s African roots. I’ve tried to find out more about this record and where the African influence comes from but have failed to find anything substantial. Has Ben been to Africa? Were African musicians used on the record? After many listens I would have to suggest that the African influence comes more from the African influence within Brazil, a country which bought more slaves than any other. Xica da Silva, more commonly written as Chica da Silva or Francisca da Silva, is the name of an African slave who managed to work up the class ladder by marrying one of the wealthiest colonialists in Brazil. In some ways her story is very controversial as she kept slaves once she became wealthy but Ben chooses to concentrate on the paradigm of her being a black slave treated like loyalty, and with such a slinky, soulful groove this was perhaps the better choice.
Although I’ve alluded to James Brown and Fela Kuti these are just some touchstones in terms of understanding this album because it seems to have it’s own unique flavour. On first listen I was quite adamant that I’d never heard anything like it. Even other Ben records written around this time don’t seem to quite grasp the raw funkiness of this, a funkiness which does undeniably make you think of Fela Kuti rather than any of Ben’s Brazilian contemporaries, but then at the same time the album is undeniably Brazilian. From the songs about football to the Afro-Brazilian drums and rippling samba he learnt in Rio it has to be Brazilian, but then songs such as “Cavaleiro do Cavalo Imaculado” seem to come out of nowhere and you get lost once more in this album.
It has to go down as one of the greatest Brazilian albums of all time. I have no doubt about that despite only so far having a limited exposure to Brazilian music. There is put simply just some music which breaches all boundaries and exists on its own pedastal. Africa Brasil has to be one of these albums.
In 1989 David Byrne released Brazil Classics Vol.1: Beleza Tropical, a collection of classic MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) songs. “Ponta de Laca Africano” was the opening track and made a lot of people in America investigate more of Ben’s work, and especially Africa Brasil. This video of the song was produced when that CD was released:….~
After the amazing run of releases he achieved on the early years of his career, brazilian singer/songwriter Jorge Ben started slowing down his incredibly prolific creative flow, even though there was still much in him to discard this post Tábua de Esmeralda period in his artistic path. África Brasil is one of the brightest examples of that particular time. This album showed a bit less imaginative songwritting style, but still presented some really immediate and effective samba-rock/funk tunes with day-to-day lyrics and a stripped-down sound that still carried a lot of personality and flavour. From this record came out some of his most famous songs ever, like Taj Mahal, for example. Some of these compositions were re-recorded a million times throughout the years, but it was definitely their original versions that displayed the masterful quality of Ben and his bandmates. Despite being a bit less provocative and creative than his previously released works, África Brasil remains one of his most critically acclaimed and beloved LPs to date, which surely means a lot, coming from such a marvellous discography…..~
Credits
Backing Vocals – Evinha, Regina*
Bass – Dadi
Congas, Percussion – Ariovaldo*, Djalma Corrêa*, Hermes (6)
Cuica – Nenem*
Drums, Timbales – Pedrinho*
Flute, Saxophone – José Carlos (2)
Guitar, Vocals, Written-By – Jorge Ben
Percussion – Doutor, Joãozinho*, Canegal*
Saxophone – Oberdan*
Surdo – Luna (11)
Technician – Rafael Azulay
Timbales – Wilson Das Neves
Trumpet – Darcy*, Marcio Montarroyos
Tracklist
A1 Ponta De Lança Africano (Umbabarauma) 3:58
A2 Hermes Trismegisto Escreveu 3:04
A3 O Filósofo 3:30
A4 Meus Filhos, Meu Tesouro 3:53
A5 O Plebeu 3:18
A6 Taj Mahal 3:10
B1 Xica Da Silva 4:00
B2 A História De Jorge 3:53
B3 Camisa 10 Da Gávea 4:18
B4 Cavaleiro Do Cavalo Imaculado 4:43
B5 África Brasil (Zumbi) 3:48
