Mas Que Nada Song Series On The

The next year, Sergio Mendes took his band on a tour of Mexico and the United States.

Heres the story behind the song, with an explanation and translation of its lyrics, a detailed biography of its composer, background on how it became a worldwide hit, and sample tracks.

Mas Que Nada Song Series On The

This material was originally presented as a three-part series on The Best of Brazil radio program, May 12-26, 2004, with a special follow-up presentation on June 23, 2004.

The bossa nova movement radically changed Brazilian Popular Music.

It was a revolution of young people most of the musicians in the bossa nova vanguard were in their teens or early 20s.

During the next three weeks, Ill tell you about the composer and his song.

And Ill play several of the hundreds of recordings that have been made of the tune.

At home, his family liked to listen to a family friend, the composer Ataulfo Alves; to the king of baio Luiz Gonzaga; and to the crooner Nelson Gonalves.

Before choosing music, soccer was the career goal of Jorge Menezes and, for a short time, he played with Flamengo, Rios most popular team.

Although his stevedore father, Augusto Menezes, had composed some carnaval songs, he wanted Jorge to become a lawyer.

Jorge got his first guitar at age 18 and began teaching himself to play.

McGowan and Pessanha ( The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil ) describe how he developed his style.

So he developed his own style, playing with only his thumb and forefinger.

Sergio Mendes, who was a year older, was another regular in the alleys clubs, leading nightly jam sessions.

Jorge adopted the stage name Jorge Ben, which he used for almost 30 years.

Ben was the maiden name of his Ethiopian-born mother, Slvia Saint Ben Lima.) In 1989, he changed his name to Jorge Benjor.

He has had an abiding interest in psychic phenomena, mysticism, and the supernatural.

And for years, it was widely reported that he made the name change because his numerologist told him it was a luckier combination of letters.

Several years ago, Jorge said the name change had nothing to do with numerology.

Still later, he divided his last name into two words Ben Jor because the people who distribute songwriting royalties were confusing him with George Benson, and his payments were misdirected.

Its hard to imagine that anyone would confuse the name George with Jorge.

His first album, released later that year, sold 100,000 copies in two months.

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Here is that story.

Before moving to the United States in 1964, Sergio Mendes was already recognized as a brilliant young jazz pianist and bandleader in Brazil and a member of bossa novas inner circle.

He recorded his first LP for the Philips label at age 20, and the following year 1962 jazz greats Kenny Durham, Phil Woods, Hubert Laws, Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann all flew to Brazil to record with the 21-year-old pianist and his band.