Review
Genre and Mood
Luiz Henrique’s Mas Que Nada is bossa nova and samba from a Brazilian singer working in New York: a song from Rio, recorded for an American jazz label in 1967. Its feeling is playful and groovy, a short, light take on what was already a standard.
Song Summary
Mas que nada is Jorge Ben’s song, released as a single in January 1963 and on his album Samba Esquema Novo. Its melody and chanted vocal had roots in José Prates’ 1958 Nanã Imborô, and by 1967 it had been recorded by Zé Maria, Tamba Trio and Luis Carlos Vinhas, and turned into an American hit by Sérgio Mendes and Brasil ’66. Luiz Henrique recorded it for his Verve album Barra Limpa, produced by Bob Morgan. The session lists him on guitar and lead vocal, with an accordionist credited as Sevuca, three bassists and the drummer Donald MacDonald.
Musical Breakdown
Main Section
No review we found describes this recording, so this page describes less than usual. What the credits give is a small group around a singer who plays his own guitar: voice and guitar in front, accordion for colour, bass and drums holding the samba pulse. The released take runs about three minutes.
Concepts in Focus
A cover version is a new recording of a song by an artist other than the original. Mas que nada shows how far a song can travel: by the time Luiz Henrique sang it, the 1966 Sérgio Mendes version had reached number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was better known outside Brazil than Jorge Ben’s original. Hear Ben in another mood in Jorge Ben Jor – Take It Easy My Brother Charles.
Bossa nova, Wikipedia explains, is a relaxed style of samba built on a calm, syncopated rhythm, the guitar stylising what a samba school’s drums play. syncopation, accents placed off the expected beats, gives the style its swaying motion, and a singer-guitarist like Luiz Henrique carries that rhythm in his own hands.
Artistic Context
Luiz Henrique Rosa was born in Tubarão in 1938 and grew up in Florianópolis. In Rio’s Beco das Garrafas, the alley of bossa nova clubs, he came up in 1963 alongside Jorge Ben himself and the young Flora Purim, and his first LP, A Bossa Moderna de Luiz Henrique, topped Brazilian charts. In 1965 he moved to the United States, working in New York with Stan Getz, Oscar Brown Jr., Walter Wanderley, Sivuca and others. The discography records a first attempt at Mas Que Nada on 10 March 1967, left unissued, and the released take on 9 June 1967 at Capitol Studios.
Impact and Reception
Luiz Henrique stayed in America until 1971 and died in a car accident in Florianópolis in 1985. This recording is one of many versions of Mas que nada, sung by a musician who had come up in the same Rio scene as its writer. Listen for the guitar.
