Força Bruta / Forca Bruta

Força Bruta appeared at a tumultuous moment in the history of Brazilian popular culture. Newly emergent groups of young musicians, self-styled tropicalistas such as Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa and others made music whose dissonant, culturally polyglot sound and politically critical lyrics brought them into direct conflict with Brazil’s military government. While some prominent tropicalistas were jailed or forced into exile, other musicians responded to persecution and censorship by incorporating subtly coded expressions of protest into their music. Jorge Ben was a master at balancing the need for political circumspection against the ungovernable demands of his muse. The title of 1970’s Força Bruta, for instance, could be interpreted as referring to the repressive political violence of the era, but provides an equally apt shorthand for the hard driving samba-soul hybrid found within the album’s grooves. On Força Bruta Ben is joined by the Trio Mocato, a hard samba outfit whose terse, rhythm driven contributions make this one of Ben’s tightest and most focused efforts. Força Bruta remains one of the high points of his career.