Samba-Soul

In the early 1960’s Jorge Ben was one of the first artists to mix Samba with elements of Rock music. He was also one of the first – if not the first – artists to mix Samba with North American Soul and Funk. Between 1969 and 1976 he released a string of fantastic LPs, where he drew inspiration from “black” music, both of Brazil and North America, to create a completely new, unique and personal sound, always with Samba as the main ingredient. Jorge Ben’s music during the 1970’s was described as Samba-Funk or Samba-Soul and with the adherence of other artists, it soon turned into a whole new genre and also part of the movement to strengthen Afro-Brazilian culture. Some of the most prominent artists of the Samba-Soul genre of the 1970’s were Di Melo, Banda Black Rio, Bebeto and Dom Salvador.