Jorge Ben Jor S/D

well africa brasil is possibly the greatest album ever made so it follows

actually my favorite jorge ben song might be the a tabua "zumbi"

for a song abt slavery it's pretty joyful sounding

I love africa brasil but I'm kind of burnt out on it

if u are burnt out on it, go listen to "ben", totally different vibe

I've got about ten Jorge Ben albums and I always think I have one definitive favorite until I play a different one and it becomes my new favorite — until of course I play another one and that becomes my favorite.

I definitely have a favorite song though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YikALKVpb0o

Love that string arrangement in the final third of the tune. Gives me chills on most days.

Ahh, try that again, for those that do not wish to click away from this thread, but would still like to listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YikALKVpb0o

Dusty Groove was supposed to reissue Negro e Linda, Ben and Solta O Pavao in August, but they've been listed as "delayed" since that time. I was hoping they'd do remastering of them independent of the Salve, Jorge! box that came out from Universal Brazil a couple of years ago, whose sound is kinda loud and harsh — the reissues Dusty Groove did of the '69 s/t and Força Bruta sounded really nice.

The man is probably my favorite songwriter of all time. How he has managed to churn out so much incredible music is just unreal. Pretty much any of his albums up until the 1980s are outright classics, although I am most partial to his debut, Forca Bruta, and O Bido. I think his debut album was so ahead of its time and is one of the best pop albums ever made.

For all the love Africa Brasil gets it's nowhere near his best in my opinion. My favorite aspect of his pre-Africa Brasil output is the sound of his acoustic guitar, so taking it out is almost too big of a loss to surmount.

Great thread by the way. My listening for the rest of the night is sorted.

I've got about ten Jorge Ben albums and I always think I have one definitive favorite until I play a different one and it becomes my new favorite
To this I can relate.

He's here tomorrow night but don't think I can make it.

I love africa brasil but I'm kind of burnt out on it

― a hard dom is good to find (Edward III), Saturday, November 16, 2013 2:26 AM (19 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

if u are burnt out on it, go listen to "ben", totally different vibe

― shiny trippy people holding bandz (m bison), Saturday, November 16, 2013 7:34 AM (13 hours ago)

yeah, I know all about ben. I've heard everything up through the 80s. the holy trinity for me is africa brasil, a tabua, and forca bruta. a banda do ze pretinho just outside that. the rest have some great tracks but don't work well as albums for me.

the s/t 1969 has always baffled me. it kept me from getting into his early stuff for a while, ppl call it one of his best but every time I listen to it it leaves me cold.

Like the same ones as you but have more time for the earlier ones as well.

Dusty Groove was supposed to reissue Negro e Linda, Ben and Solta O Pavao in August, but they've been listed as "delayed" since that time. I was hoping they'd do remastering of them independent of the Salve, Jorge! box that came out from Universal Brazil a couple of years ago, whose sound is kinda loud and harsh — the reissues Dusty Groove did of the '69 s/t and Força Bruta sounded really nice.

They indeed do wonderful and I as well have been watching for those delayed reissues since probably at least June.

The David Axelrod Seriously Deep and the other Jorge Ben albums they did a few years back were all so well done. Just wish they had done vinyl reissues as well.

He was a lot of fun live last night at the Howard Theatre even if I didn't recognize some of the songs.I think they were doing some post-70s ones with a rap-funk flavor. Plus ones like "Spirogyra." I know its $80 some bucks to see him in NY but it might be worth it. In DC lots of Portuguese-speakers were there happily chanting and singing along and swaying and sambaing. As Ben did when I saw him in 2004, he invited women onstage to dance to "Gostosa." They were also hugging him and taking "selfies" as he kept singing. He looks much younger than 68. They closed with a joyfully melodic "Taj Mahal."

Hm. I wonder if I should try to get over there tonight. Went to see Marisa Monte a few months back and there were a lot of Brazilians in the audience singing along as well which made it a lot of fun.

Do it. Just uh skip something in the future to justify the $80 plus

Searched "jorge ben" on twitter and recent tweets were divided between those loving the NYC show, and those complaining about how much they hate B.B. King's club in NYC where Jorge played. The folks who book that place also book the Howard Theatre in D.C. (with high prices at both)

Couldn't make it and don't love that place. Last time I went was years ago to see the Yardbirds with Mr. Fine Wine whose childhood friend was in the band, so I got to meet Giorgio Gomelsky and Jim McCarty. Had no such connection for this show.

Why no NPR concert (like Bill Callahan) or NPR Tiny Desk Unit show (like lots of indie folks) for Jorge Ben. C'mon Bob Boilen

I've never heard "O Bidu: Silencio no Brooklyn" or his s/t 1969 album, but apparently they're both hella wild and very free sometimes.

I just heard this album and while it doesn't get very free or wild, it sounded wonderful. His singing is GREAT, cooler and chill (not quite as dense as a lot of his other stuff I've heard, less syllables per bar). And the texture of his voice has this wonderful grain to it, a perfect rough/smooth balance (maybe due to the production? the overall sound of the album is great, if a bit rough). And the songs are catchy as hell.

this album = O Bidu

That is a great tune, and his vocal delivery is marvelous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bjIRHGNGHQ

o bidu is the missing link tween samba-era jorge and what came later, a more important listen than '69's s/t imo

supposedly there's two v diff mixes of that album floating around but I've never been able to track down the dry mix (t'other is heavily reverbed)

He sings on a track on the recent Natalia Lafourcade album. Its her tribute to Agustin Lara album, and their rendition of the cut has a bit of a Brazilian feel to it. I don't know Lara's music (his prime was 1930 to 1960s) and I haven't tried to find other versions to compare. But its good to see Ben in the public eye (at least the Latin rock public eye if not crossover with US or UK or elsewhere)

Dusty Groove has Africa Brasil back in stock and reasonably priced:
http://www.dustygroove.com/item/700774

Still waiting on those other reissues. . .

His best record in my opinion but many prefer A Tábua de Esmeralda

BENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/24/Ben_-_Jorge_Ben_Album.jpg

get at me when this is ready

whoa huge jpg

I know. They're saying August now.

x-post -Not in stock anymore:

Africa Brasil
CD (Item 700774) Universal (Japan), 1976 — Condition: New Copy

Just Sold Out!

CD

Add to
Watch List

They'll restock, surely.

Played Jorge doing "Taj Mahal" on the Spotify playlist at my wedding reception this past weekend....It made me very happy

Congrats.

Which version?

I recall grabbing a short one from a comp I think

man that doesnt help there are like 5 versions of taj mahal

does it start with 4 on the floor and a horn section and some cuica?

chill out dude's on his honeymoon

actually it's really crucial and time sensitive that we know exactly which version he played. curmudgeon?

JORGE BEN IS RLY IMPT TO ME

Bear up, m bison

Played Jorge doing "Taj Mahal" on the Spotify playlist at my wedding reception this past weekend....It made me very happy

good drunk song

Back in stock for $13.99 + postage:
https://www.dustygroove.com/item/700774

(along with a few other great JBJ titles)

thanks

Those Dusty Groove reissues that were listed for August no longer show up in search results on the site.

Sorry. Maybe they'll get more back in soon (Japanese editions). Glad I jumped on and bought Africa Brasil while it was available.

Back when I covered Luaka Bop's 21rst Anniversary collection, I started off by thinking out loud about this Ben song, one of my all-time faves by anybody anywhere; any comments on its (and his) back story etc. would be welcome:

Is "Ponta De Lanca Africano (Umbabarauma)" really about where slaves
arrived in Brazil? Or did I just expand a mental legend over the
years, trying to explain and contain the unsettling, unsettled poise
and expanse of Jorge Ben's rolling, grinding samba soul classic?
Literally, it's about soccer, but the key line "um ponta de lan a
Africano" doesn't match the title ("Point of the African Lance",
ouch!), and the line's translation---"an African point man" (also "Um
ponta de lan a decidio", " A man whose mind is made up")—is pretty
pointed too. Word to Brazil's 60s junta, and to its polite society,
which has long tended to insist that Brazilians aren't hung up on
race. But it sounds like big Ben's got all of the above and something
else on his mind, that he's listening to, listening for. Sounds like
he's still listening.
The restless example of Ben (who could have played it safe, with
respectably salt-of-the-earth pop star status established early)
further schooled Beleza Tropical, the reputation-making debut release
on Luaka Bop, the New York City label founded by David Byrne in 1988
Beleza… arrived like a ship from post-bossa nova Brazil, mostly filled
with discreetly fabulous and accomplished descendants of the
tale-telling, refugee gamesters in Boccaccio's Decameron. The crew of
Beleza… can mostly be ID'd as members and fellow travelers of the '60s
Tropicalia movement, who had been exiled or isolated because of yadda yadda; he's the point man get it.

this album! begins with one of the absolutest most alltime-enest jams ever.

wow yeah that slays! never heard this record before

Taj Mahal later recorded a song called "Jorge Ben." True!

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Monday, February 10, 2003 1:45 PM (eighteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

This is cracking me up.

I just got the s/t from 1969 after having it on mp3 on an old ipod for years and remembered it's one of my favorite albums ever. Just gorgeous. I used to listen to it on the beach over the summer with my wife's family. Like a salve on a hot day.

https://tomhull.com/ocston/blog/

The Gil e Jorge album is just the perfect album to groove to and get lost in on the weekend.