Master Composers: Jorge Ben Jor

Image courtesy of discogs.com

Born as Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes in Rio on March 22, 1942, this veteran MPB singer and songwriter has what American rock critic Robert Christgau in the August 6, 1993 issue of the Village Voice, Ben and his contemporary Gilberto Gil were “always ready to go further out on a beat than the other samba/bossa geniuses”.

Talk About Pushing the Envelope

As a teenager, he received his first pandeiro (Brazil’s most popular type of tambourine). Two years later, he joined a church choir. According to his Wikipedia page, “He also took part as a pandeiro player in the blocos (carnival blocks) of Carnaval, and from eighteen years of age, he began performing at parties and nightclubs with the guitar given to him by his mother. He was given the nickname “Babulina” after his enthusiastic pronunciation of rockabilly singer Ronnie Self’s song “Bop-A-Lena”.

Next thing he did was sing “Mas Que Nada” in many small festivals. Once word circulated, he would be joining Erasmo Carlos and the albums he produced were simply mind blowing.

Starting with his self-titled work in 1965, he had produced a whopping 33 albums (not counting a 2011 cover of his 1973 album 10 Anos Depois. Even sometimes his work has been categorized as “esoteric”, according to AllMusic.com, he is still considered by many as a true force.

The album I profiled here is from 2014. Sonsual combined tropicalia rhythms with funk and samba. You could tell right away this would make an excellent album for a weekend afternoon, either while picking up produce for your night’s dinner or having it play on your phone to enjoy on those long winding road trips.

My favorite tracks were number 2, “A Rainha Foi Embora” (translated meaning “The Queen Left”), number 4 “My Little Brother”, and number 5 “Obsessão, Meu Amor” (translated simply to “Obsession, My Love.”

In recent years, he lent his voice as a part of the soundtrack to the 2006 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament and fans ate it up.

And yes, he will be turning the big 80 in a few weeks.

Except for the iCollection album of 2015 that is available physically on Amazon and eBay, all of his work can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Music.

Definitely a true legend, right up there with Sergio Mendes, Gilberto Gil, and the rest.

Of course, there are hundreds of other artists both male and female looking to add their names so that before the 22nd century arrives, they could possibly mentioned in the same breath (but with COVID still around, that is all but wishful thinking, considering that Brazil has one of the world’s worst vaccination routes by country.)

Who will be next in the months to come? Stick around and find out. That’s what I am doing, utilizing the usual search engines and leaning on other special websites to explore, listen, and learn. Thanks again for reading, and please leave some comments on this and any of my past blogs. Stay safe and healthy, everyone.