Jorge Ben

Emerging among the leading Brazilian composers and performers of the 1960s, singer and songwriter Jorge Ben succeeded in merging samba with soul music. He created two of the most celebrated samba compositions, "Mas Que Nada" and "País Tropical." His inventive perspective and willingness to experiment allowed participation in the Jovem Guarda, bossa nova, and Tropicália movements (noted on Jorge Ben, 1969, and Força Bruta, 1970), securing his unmatched place in history as the sole artist involved in most major currents of twentieth-century Brazilian popular music. His material has been interpreted by Sergio Mendes, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, José Feliciano, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Júlio Iglesias, and Al Jarreau. Mid-1970s releases such as A Tábua de Esmeralda from 1974 and África Brasil in 1976 displayed his rooted samba integrated with soul and funk. Whether employing airy bossa, rapid samba, or jubilant dance music, the range of his style carries the hallmark of his singular vocal phrasing and capacity to elongate time as a composer.

His father, Augusto Menezes, played pandeiro in the Cometa do Bispo Bloco and composed and sang carnaval music. Ben endured childhood poverty in the Favela da Rua do Bispo within Rio de Janeiro’s Rio Comprido borough. At age thirteen he acquired pandeiro skills in a local regional ensemble, and two years afterward he entered the church choir at his school. By sixteen he belonged to the Turma do Matoso, a circle of friends who gathered on Matoso Street in the Tijuca borough and counted Erasmo Carlos, Tim Maia, and Roberto Carlos among its members. At eighteen he mastered the guitar independently. Ben launched his professional career in 1961 as pandeiro player for the Copa Trio under organist Zé Maria. He introduced his initial songs at the Little Club in Beco das Garrafas, one of Rio’s rare venues then presenting Brazilian jazz and bossa nova. Simultaneously he sang rock at the Plaza nightclub, where Johnny Alf had brought jazz harmonies that reshaped Brazilian music. In 1963 two of his songs, "Mas Que Nada" and "Por Causa de Você," appeared on Zé Maria’s Tudo Azul; this prompted Philips to offer him a single of the same tracks backed by the Copa Cinco. The label’s wager succeeded on radio and in retail. That year Philips released his debut album, Samba Esquema Novo, which sold an unmatched 100,000 copies.

In 1965 Ben toured the United States for three months while the Jovem Guarda Show premiered on TV Record São Paulo. At that moment Ben adopted iê-iê-iê, the Brazilian rock style modeled on the Beatles, a choice that clashed with musicians and singers aligned with Elis Regina, who had launched an anti-rock campaign on her O Fino da Bossa program in a manner reminiscent of the folk audience’s reaction to Bob Dylan at Newport in 1965. Long devoted to the genre, Ben was nicknamed “Babulina” in his circle for his admiration of Ronnie Self’s “Bop-A-Lena.” Though his foundation remained samba, he sought to expand the form, pioneering an electric samba that incorporated rock and popular music. As a sambista backed by the jazz community, he received an invitation to O Fino da Bossa and appeared on two weekly broadcasts. During this period Erasmo Carlos asked him to perform “Agora Ninguém Chora Mais” on the Jovem Guarda show; the following day the producers of O Fino da Bossa barred him. Remaining with Jovem Guarda, Ben joined Pery Ribeiro, Erasmo Carlos, Wilson Simonal, Bossa Três, and Carlos Imperial in forming the hybrid rhythm known as “samba jovem,” which combined iê-iê-iê and bossa nova.

While Ben confronted obstacles domestically, Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 released “Mas Que Nada” as a single that reached high chart positions in the United States; concurrently José Feliciano recorded “Nena Naná” and Herb Alpert recorded “Zazueira.” Ben stayed sidelined in Brazilian music until late 1968, when he joined Caetano Veloso’s and Gilberto Gil’s Divino, Maravilhoso program on TV Tupi. In 1969 four singles—“Minha Menina,” “País Tropical,” “Que Pena,” and “Cadê Teresa”—appeared on the self-titled Jorge Ben and brought commercial success. In 1970 he performed “Eu Também Quero Mocotó” at the V FIC with conductor Erlon Chaves, Banda Veneno, and Trio Mocotó. In 1972 he appeared in Italy, Portugal, and Japan, where he recorded a live album, and won the VII FIC with “Fio Maravilha,” interpreted by Maria Alcina and included on that year’s LP Ben. In 1975 he performed at Rome’s Sistina Theater, with the concert televised by Italian television; the same year he played Paris’s Olympia, the concert captured live and issued as Jorge Ben à L'Olympia. These events and recordings prepared the ground for his embrace of soul on 1974’s A Tábua de Esmeralda and funk on 1976’s Africa Brasil, both now regarded as classic albums.

During the 1980s Ben achieved international stardom. His rising foreign popularity generated repeated invitations to jazz and world music festivals. In 1985 he altered his stage name from Jorge Ben to Jorge Ben Jor, prompted by his move to Warner and the misdirection of international composition and publishing royalties to George Benson.

In 1991 “W/Brasil (Chama o Síndico)” became a prominent dancefloor success in Britain and Europe as a younger audience rediscovered his catalog. In November 1997 twelve artists, among them Fernanda Abreu, Carlinhos Brown, Paralamas do Sucesso, Skank, and Skowa, paid tribute on Músicas Para Tocar em Elevador. In 2001 he issued his own unplugged entry in the Acústico MTV series, followed by a second volume the next year. Ben returned triumphantly to samba funk with Reactivus Amor Est (Turba Philosophorum) in 2004. Two years later Mendes and the Black Eyed Peas recorded “Mas Que Nada,” which reached the European Top Five as a FIFA World Cup theme. After extensive international touring, Ben released the studio album Recuerdos de Asunción 443 in 2007, presenting new versions of previously unreleased songs from his 1970s and 1980s periods. While continuing to tour, he devotes most of his time to writing for other artists and supervising reissues of his Philips catalog.