Documents from Gilberto Gil's Private Archive

Two Worlds, One Beat Political Samba Gil has used his position on the City Council to support programs and cultural organizations for black performing artists and to bring the plight of black Brazilians to the attention of the federal government in Brazilia. "The government says that they want to give the people a break." Gil says Cynically. "We'll see how sincere they are." The singer has reason to be skeptical. In 1969. Gil and his part- ner in rhyme. singer Caetano Veloso spent several months in ja for writing and recording anti- government lyrics. "Musically that was a very exciting time." Gil recalled. "Dylan and the Beatles were combining American and English cultural music, folk songs and even some classical forms with loud rock guitars and socially con- scious lyrics to make a more modern sound. They inspired the student movements in France and the States and made an interna tional protest music. At that time the military had seized power in Brazil, and people like Caetano and myself were searching for a way to address this situation. We wanted to find a way to approach the youth of Brazil, the same way that the protest singers in the United States did, to be politically and culturally subversive, to use new melodies and rhythms "Joao Gilberto and the com- posers who developed Bossa Nova had already introduced a cosmo- politan, more adult style. They dealt with love in an almost exis- tential way and renovated the language of popular song in Brazil They called it the 'Intellectual Sam. Brazil's Gilberto Gil looks to Africa for rhythmic inspiration. South Africa's Lucky Dube uses the reggae beat to drive his music. Both artists present messages of unity for the black diaspora. P B. razilian Singer/songwriter Gilberto Gil is one of his country's most popular exports. His albums, which feature a sizzling musical gumbo of samba, reggae, funk, rock, African pop and Brazilian folk forms, sell millions of copies in Europe, Asia and South America, and last year he used his appeal as an enter. tainer to capture a seat on the City Council of Salvador da Bahia. his home town "I wanted to run for mayor." Gil told me by phone from Miami, the first stop of his current North American tour, "but the party would not indicate me for that position. Instead I ran for City Council, and I was elected! Gil says that Brazil presents itself to the world as a smoothly run. ning, multi-racial society, but in reality there is still much inequality **More than 80 percent of the people in Brazil are of African descent. And everybody knows that blacks and mestizos, people of mixed bood. get a bad deal, but most people, even the few blacks that have been elected over the years, choose to ignore the inequalities. I'm the first one ever elected with an agenda for defend- ing black culture." So far, Gil has been able to balance his chores as a law maker with his career as a singer. "People didn't think an entertainer could be effective in government." Gil said. "but so far, so good." ba.' To make our 'Protest Samba we built on that, added some rock'n'roll, some soul, some folk music and the rhythms of my home town of Bahia. We wanted to make people aware of the inter- national protest movements, to make them see how our political problems related to the world situation." Gil and Veloso called their music **Tropicalia," but their cultural subversion succeeded too well: they were imprisoned and expelled from the country. Gil says that he had no doubts about the govern- ment's intentions. "The miliary had trouble the jungle with anti- government guerillas and they were trying to keep everything under control. If we hadn't been well-known entertainers, I'm cer- tain we would have been tortured or killed." Instead Gil and Veloso were driven to the airport and put on a plane for London. "After jail, we were placed under house arrest until they decided to banish us. They let us do one final concert to make some money, then they drove us to the airport with our wives and our guitars." in London Gil mixed with rock, reggae and African musicians and expa his horizons. "Many reg. gae musicians moved to London in the early '70s because the economic situation was better than in Jamaica, and I got to meet and play with them. Black people all over the world have much in common, so when I heard reggae and later African music, I decided to use it. The music gets into your blood and you can't avoid it." In 1972 the government of Brazil asked Gil to return home. promising him complete artistic and political freedom. "They'd gotten rid of the guerillas, and they were confident enough to allow some freedom of expres- sion. They probably thought that if they allowed the people to have their music it would keep them engaged, keep their minds off of their problems." But Gil isn't a man that's likely to forget about the problems fac. ing his less fortunate sisters and brothers, Musically and lyrically. his albums over the years have continued to showcase the same international concerns that got him in trouble in the '60s. "It's good to support the concept of plurality. A multi-racial, multi- DAILY CALIFORNIAN FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1989 cultural society will be stronger. The elite fear the sharing of power, they defend their interests, but we'll work it out. The concept of the power of the people will survive Gilberto Gil and his band will have their San Francisco debut at The Galleria, 101 Henry Adams, on Saturday, July 1st at 9pm. Call 986-5529 for info. Tix at BASS and at the door.