Jorge Ben is MPB royalty. First off he was the victor of a court case against Rod Stewart for copyright infringement. (Ben's Taj Majal and Stewart's If You Think I'm Sexy) I think that would give him points in nearly anyone's book. However he created the genre of Samba Rock and countless classic tunes. Mas Que Nada, País Tropical, Oba Lá Vem Ela, Chove Chuva, O Telefone Tocou Novamente just to name a few. (It dawns on me now that many of the tunes I chose for the podcast aren't amongst his "classics") At times he can be predictable;
Intro: Ferocious Guitar Solo Guitar Strumming
Verse: Enter Drums and catchy melody
Chorus: Call and Response Background Vocals
Repeat 30x.
However it's easy to criticize Mozart's predictability with centuries of critical hindsight as well.
Anyways Jorge Ben is one of Brazil's easiest most accessible artists to get into. His music is heavy on rhythm and his melodies are addictive from the first listen. Also you may get confused when you see some listings of his music as Jorge Ben Jor, his previous name. Rumor has it Ben changed his name when a check mistakenly was deposited in fusion guitar player George Benson's bank account. To assure no further misunderstandings Ben nipped the problem before if could grow any larger.
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