Fusing shuffling bossa nova rhythms with West African grooves and American R&B
melodies, Jorge Ben became an important, pioneering figure in Brazilian pop
music, best remembered for his big signature standard 'Mas, Que Nada'.
Born in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, he grew up singing in church and after
falling in love with the music of Joao Gilberto began playing in the carnivals
and night clubs of Copacabana. Using his mother's Ethiopian name and a guitar
she had bought him, he was spotted by an executive from Philips Records in 1963
and the quirky, ramshackle energy of 'Mas,...