Album: África Brasil
Artist: Jorge Ben Jor
Born: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Released: March 1976
Genre: Samba Funk
Influenced: David Byrne, Rod Stewart, Sepultura, Beck, Seu Jorge
Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to pretend I'm an expert on Brazilian music - I still struggle to tell bossa nova from tropicàlia, cumbia from samba - but this gem of an album is one I came across while youth hostelling in Rio and it remains a favourite. Trying to unpick the African and Brazilian influences in this album is not a task that I'm best equipped to undertake, but what I love about África Brasil's sound is the "musical alchemy" of mixing a traditional form (samba) with a modern craze (funk) and African rhythms to create something completely unique. My experience of Brazilian popular music is limited to well-known figures like Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Os Mutantes, all of whom produced great albums, but this is the one that still captures my imagination. The first song, Ponta De Lança Africano (Umbabarauma), reached a wider audience in 1989 by being selected as the opening track on David Byrne's brilliant Brazilian mixtape Beleza Tropical. The propulsive rhythm guitar that opens Ponta De Lança (which translates as spearhead) progressively drives the track forward, giving us samba in 4/4 tempo and a compelling start to the album.
Jorge Ben Jor was the son of a Brazilian fishmonger and an Ethiopian immigrant, so the ethnic and musical duality summed up in the album title was no artistic construct, it was in his blood. The above clip of Taj Mahal, a song about the love of a Mughal king who built a glorious palace for his dead Persian princess, shows his influences extended beyond Africa and Brazil, but the song is marred slightly by its links with that awful Rod Stewart song, Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? Jorge Ben Jor successfully sued Rod for stealing the melody (and now all royalties are donated to UNICEF). Taj Mahal and other songs, notably Xica Da Silva, are also notable for use of the cuica (Brazilian friction drum), the instrument famously used on Serge Gainsbourg's Bonnie & Clyde. I just love the sound so much, I wish I'd picked up a cuica in Brazil. Xica da Silva has the funkiest atmosphere of any song on this album, the cuica combining with the guitar riff and Afro-Brazilian percussion to create a sensual groove. The story of Xica da Silva is that of an Afro-Brazilian slave, who was freed by her Portuguese lover and became rich and powerful, later becoming a potent symbol of racial justice in Brazil. Being a Brazilian, Jorge Ben Jor also recorded a song about football for the album, Camisa 10 Da Gàvea, a reference to the legendary Zico, who was idolised by supporters of Flamengo and the national team. Africa Brasil and his 1974 album, A Tábua de Esméralda (translated as Emerald Tablet), which is less funky but more folky and mystical, both come highly recommended.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to pretend I'm an expert on Brazilian music - I still struggle to tell bossa nova from tropicàlia, cumbia from samba - but this gem of an album is one I came across while youth hostelling in Rio and it remains a favourite. Trying to unpick the African and Brazilian influences in this album is not a task that I'm best equipped to undertake, but what I love about África Brasil's sound is the "musical alchemy" of mixing a traditional form (samba) with a modern craze (funk) and African rhythms to create something completely unique. My experience of Brazilian popular music is limited to well-known figures like Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Os Mutantes, all of whom produced great albums, but this is the one that still captures my imagination. The first song, Ponta De Lança Africano (Umbabarauma), reached a wider audience in 1989 by being selected as the opening track on David Byrne's brilliant Brazilian mixtape Beleza Tropical. The propulsive rhythm guitar that opens Ponta De Lança (which translates as spearhead) progressively drives the track forward, giving us samba in 4/4 tempo and a compelling start to the album.
Jorge Ben Jor was the son of a Brazilian fishmonger and an Ethiopian immigrant, so the ethnic and musical duality summed up in the album title was no artistic construct, it was in his blood. The above clip of Taj Mahal, a song about the love of a Mughal king who built a glorious palace for his dead Persian princess, shows his influences extended beyond Africa and Brazil, but the song is marred slightly by its links with that awful Rod Stewart song, Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? Jorge Ben Jor successfully sued Rod for stealing the melody (and now all royalties are donated to UNICEF). Taj Mahal and other songs, notably Xica Da Silva, are also notable for use of the cuica (Brazilian friction drum), the instrument famously used on Serge Gainsbourg's Bonnie & Clyde. I just love the sound so much, I wish I'd picked up a cuica in Brazil. Xica da Silva has the funkiest atmosphere of any song on this album, the cuica combining with the guitar riff and Afro-Brazilian percussion to create a sensual groove. The story of Xica da Silva is that of an Afro-Brazilian slave, who was freed by her Portuguese lover and became rich and powerful, later becoming a potent symbol of racial justice in Brazil. Being a Brazilian, Jorge Ben Jor also recorded a song about football for the album, Camisa 10 Da Gàvea, a reference to the legendary Zico, who was idolised by supporters of Flamengo and the national team. Africa Brasil and his 1974 album, A Tábua de Esméralda (translated as Emerald Tablet), which is less funky but more folky and mystical, both come highly recommended.
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