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.
Ed Lincoln is a Samba Organist and this was probably his best known song at the time, its on all his greatest hits LP's. Its a pretty wild number, with lots of silly organ tricks, a kazoo (!), some Mexican style trumpets and lah, lah vocals. It stops and starts, is groovy, is damn catchy and makes every day a sunny day. (very useful if you live in the UK).
from Ed Lincoln (Musidisc HIFI-2149), available on CD
17 Sep 03 ·sodapop650: Pick up the LP its on Cochise. Get the mono copy not the stereo copy. Its always on ebay.
This stunning instrumental is a reasonably straight version of a classical piece by Maurice Ravel, originally written in 1899. Eumir plays piano over a dense string background, adding a tiny bit of jazz phrasing. The texture of the layered strings and piano is remarkably intense and beautiful, and the piece is quite exquisite. I expect this recording would offend classical purists, but I must admit that having heard this version first, I still like it the best. Perhaps this is down to the sheer richness of the string recording, which may be endowed by studio wizardry rarely used in classical recordings. Either way, it's really quite incredible, and I urge you to check it out.
03 Jan 02 ·Mike: While I find Deodato to be a stimulating and interesting artist (and am far from being a "classical purist" of any sort), I can't really muster any great enthusiasm for this recording. Too close to being a kind of synthesis of Ravel's original for solo piano (1899) and version for full orchestra (1910), I find Deodato's funky adaptations of Stauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" and, particularly Debussy's "Prelude to the afternoon of a faun" somewhat more worthwhile. Maybe I should listen again to the Ravel adaptation, but in the past I have found its blandness a little irritating... 28 Feb 02 ·G400 Custom: What I like about this track is the fact that it's a very black, funky take on a piece with questionable Aryan overtones. It can be heard to great affect in Hal Ashby's 'Being There', which I think was Peter Sellers' last film. 28 Feb 02 ·G400 Custom: Re the above comment: I was talking about 'Also Sprach Zarathrustra', not the Ravel piece. Sorry for any confusion. 03 Sep 02 ·G400 Custom: As far as the Ravel adaptation goes, I find it pleasant if a little bit chocolate-boxey, reminiscent of the 60s soundtracks of Francis Lai. I can't argue with Delicado's comments about the string sound though, which is astonishing. 17 Sep 03 ·sodapop650: Bore - Ring! If you are going to listen to Deodato. Listen to the early Equipe LPs. When his sound was so hip, hipper than hip, the bastard brazilian son of Henry Mancini hip. Get a copy of "Tremendao" grab a beer and try to find a nice warm spot of sunshine. 18 Sep 03 ·delicado: Well, you have to remember that I'm someone who is obsessed with string sounds. I listen fanatically to late 50s and 60s mood music records, and am a fan of both Percy Faith and Jackie Gleason's records. Yes, I love Brazilian music, and enjoy all of Deodato's 60s Equipe LPs, but I also have a very real and intense love of what my pal G400 defines as 'chocolate-boxy' easy listening music. Deodato's 1972 LP 'Percepcao' (recently reissued on CD in Brazil) also falls into this category, and I adore it! 18 Apr 04 ·[email protected]: One of the purist fusion jazz artists of his time. Listen to the music, don't try to interpret it or rationalize it. Your missing the point. Eumir is unmistakeably one of the pioneers in this gendre.
The original version of this Brazilian classic, it was covered by just about everybody. Has that children's chorus doing backing vocals that the Brazilians seem to love so much.
from Chico Buarque de Hollanda available on CD - Minha Historia (Polygram Brazil)
03 Dec 01 ·delicado: I was listening to Astrud Gilberto's translated version of this today (on the 'beach samba' LP), and I found it quite hard to handle. I will have to check out the original some time. 21 Oct 03 ·heinmukk: the astrud gilberto version is rather strange. i mean, it's the march version or what? i don't like it.
better take a listen to the version by france gall. i know it as "zwei apfelsinen im haar" which means "two oranges in the hair". (?) it's a classic in germany. france gall sings in german with a subtle french accent. can it get more sexy? i don't think so... 05 May 04 ·sodapop650: If its the song Im thinking of, I think that Quarteto Em Cy do a nice cover as well.
When I heard this album by the Brazilian organist Ed Lincoln, I really wasn't expecting a tune like this. It's a beautiful, tender vocal, sounding like something from a Francis Lai soundtrack, with lovely male-female alternating vocals and an exquisite Morricone style trumpet blending well with the guitar/organ/percussion instrumentation. An absolutely stunning track - playful but slightly sad at the same time, with some spooky laughter/sighing from the female singer towards the end.
from Ed Lincoln (Savoya Discos SV 8001), available on CD
24 Feb 04 ·n-jeff: Thats the thing with Lincoln, its not just the cheese, he played alongside the best Jazz musicians in Brazil. He could cut a pretty funk when the occasion demanded, and his "Seu piano eletrico" album ranges from african tinged stompers to mid sixties style vocal cuts.
IMHO opinion underrated as a producer as well, he seems to have been active on the cutting edge of Brazilain music from the late fifties right through to the late seventies.
I intended to use this track as the payoff for a compilation I did for a cd trading ring, but I don't think I had the space.
He was in hospital just before Christmas (2003), not sure how he's doing now. 28 Feb 04 ·delicado: I have to say, I'm pretty blown away by his work. I know you've been harping on about him for years, so I wish I had listened earlier! 05 May 04 ·sodapop650: Ed Lincolns best work is the recordings he did with Orlann Divo becasue he is a little more low-key and the arrangements are just plain better. I love O Ganso cause its so damn crazy and his recordings under the name Claudio Marcelo are pretty good too. A rcord seller in Brazil actually got me his autograph as a present because I bought so many of Ed Lincolns LPs. But I gotta tell you, someone like Sergio Carvalho or Eumir Deodato are much more powerful on the Hammond and Ely Arcoverde, Juarez Sant'ana Ze Maria I think are all more mature organists. I put Ed Lincoln with Walter Wanderley a little heavy on the cheese.
