Abstract Index Playlist - December 10/08

One of my favourite all time artists is Jorge Ben, so I was very pleased to cop the early Christmas present of "Tudo Ben", issued by the keepers of the Brazilian flame (London-style), Mr. Bongo. I get very excited when they delve into the past, such as their compilations on Joyce and their Brazilian Beats series which sequenced new and old tracks together.

Tudo Ben features a motherlode of 26 covers of Jorge Ben tunes, including some songs the master himself never got around to releasing. Can't tell the recording dates exactly, but the sound hits that late 60s-early 70s sweet spot of MPB meets funk again and again. Though some artists are duplicated, I'm not going to complain about Wilson Simonal being represented seven times. Every one of these selections expands Ben's samba soul in interesting directions: some rootsy, some psychedelic, and others just plain funky.

This comp is actually a good place to start for the novice Ben fan - though he doesn't appear on it, the breadth of his songwriting and the many influences he wove together at his peak are very well represented. But, as I've written before, Ben's hard to find classics are slowly becoming more widely available.

Podcast

cantemos - willie colon/hector lavoe (fania)
fuutu toro - orchestra baobab (oriki)
nalekaki na nzela - de wayon (crammed)
cosa nostra - os mutreteiros grilados (mr. bongo)
with the wind - brother jack mcduff (cadet)
broken bossa - moonstar (ptr)
dfd - lowfish (noise factory)
roots and wire - deadbeat (wagon repair)
camote - nova lima (cumbancha)
that ain't too cool - johnny pate (mgm)
georgia's after hours - richard popcorn wylie (abc)
the way we live - raw soul express (compost)
or not - john geggie (ambiances magnetiques)
five heroes - hanggai (riverboat)
endangered species - galerie stratique (statik)
reluctance - debashish sinha (eema)
hokus pocus - walter murphy (emperor norton)
christmas a come - eek a mouse (greensleeves)
every day and every night - heptones (17 north parade)
sweat for you baby - tamlins (17 north parade)
good times in the dancehall - prince blanco (mojobrand)
black i am - fe me time allstars (pressure sounds)
the way it is/version - ricky storm (pressure sounds)