Documents from Gilberto Gil's Private Archive

tanto não combina com a música. Eu não consigo integrar aquilo numa coisa que me interesse. O Blur parece um pouco mais verdadeiro quanto a isso, mas também não me excita . Já ouvi também o Coldplay mas sabe o que acontece? 0 Radiohead é muito bom, então não sobra tanto espaço pra eu curtir Coldplay. Tem coisa de que se fala muito no Brasil, que são britânicas, não necessariamente inglesas, como o Belle & Sebastian . Eu ouvi os dis- achei delicado, charmoso. Tem de les tocaram no Brasil e can- até alguma coisa de bossa nova, de . Eles becher taram "Baby" no show. A menina can- tou "Baby" em português! ! Mas eu não vi, infelizmente. Um show inglês que eu vi no Brasil e gostei foi do Stereolab, que tem uma moça francesa, Foi bonito à beça o show. Bem tocado, cheio de charme. Mas os ingleses sempre fazem muito tipo. Todo grupo inglês é um pessoal fazendo tipo. É fascinante, desde os Smiths você sente muito isso. Bom, desde os Smiths não, desde Brian Ferry, Roxy Music. Como você acha que os ingleses ouvem a música brasileira? Tem uma coisa engraçada, que a música brasileira, a bossa nova, ter- minou tendo uma presença mais forte na Inglaterra na era pós-rock- n'roll. Por um caminho *** viesado, mais por causa da Astrud (Gilberto) do que por causa do João (Gilberto) do Tom Jobim). dobim), em grupos como Matt Bianco e Everything but the Girl Sade. Tem alguma coisa que tem a ver com a Astrud, com a bossa nova, como um fenômeno pop. Não a bossa nova como expressão origi nal de primeira linha, como foi a influência que ela teve nos Estados Unidos e na Europa continental. Ali, foi maior entre os jazzistas, Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Cannonball Adderley, essas pessoas que ado- ravam a bossa nova. Na Inglaterra não teve essa presença, só mais tarde, como um fenômeno pop, com um lado mais superficial da bos nova. E até hoje está ass assim, com esse casamento de bossa com drum'n'bass. É um dos clichés do pop moderno. É uma coisa inglesa, é engraçado, é bonito. E o que você acha do funk carioca estar começando a ser ouvido na Inglaterra? O funk carioca? Eu não sabia que tinha alguém fora do Brasil ouvindo essas coisas que são feitas no Rio, porque são muito precárias. ingleses sempre fazem muito tipo. Todo grupo inglês é um pessoal fazendo tipo. Desde Brian Ferry Jungle: How does feel to be play- ing in London again? What can the public expect from the show? Caetano Veloso: Having lived in London, it's quite a buzz playing over here. I feel motivated. We're bringing over the Foreign Sound show, with the same band from Brazil. It should be the same kind of thing. (See box page 36). Do you think there'll be a lot of Brazilians? Ah, as always. Whenever I play London, the crowd is basically Roxy Music 9, Brazilian. Or at least that's how it e o seu seems. 66 The British are very affected, and British bands have always been a bit pretentious. From Brian Ferry and Roxy Music onwards 29 Do you like this? Of course. The last few times, I've seen a few more British faces, peo ple who've come along to check me out, but the crowd is basically always the same. There are lots of Brazilians over here, and very few British peo- ple know about my work. It's different in Italy, Spain, France, even in the States, where there's a local fan base that's interested in my music. When you lived in London did you keep up with what was going on musically in the city? I went to see established bands to those that see everything, from were just breaking through. Some became immensely famous, others didn't. Others gained cult status, like Marc Bolan from T-Rex, who died. I liked him. There were some things that I got into very early on, like Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Led I was also into bands Zeppelin. And I like the Incredible String Band, who no one remembers now, but were really interesting. I saw The Faces. I saw John Lennon playing with all the other Beatles except Paul McCartney (laughs), and Yoko Ono. I was also into an American duo called Delaney and Bonnie, who the time and were big at the then disap- peared. I also saw a lot of jazz artists at Ronnie Scott's. I saw Sarah Vaughan and Ray Charles at the Royal Festival Hall. I went to all the Rolling Stones concerts while I was in London. And was great because they were at the height of their career. And I went to all the festi- vals. I'm a Glastonbury pioneer (laughs). I must have gone to the first ever event which was small but Pink Floyd were there and so was Traffic. I also went to two festi- vals on the Isle of Wight. The one with Bob Dylan at the end and the other with Jimmi Hendrix at the end. And are you into any of the English bands around at the moment? He sings really well, There are a few I like. I don't keep up with the British music press, but I hear bits and bobs here and there from the most famous groups. There's that guy from Radiohead Tom York, right? the band's good and so are the albums, They've got a really beauti- ful sound. I really like them. Oasis, on the other hand, don't do anything for me. They're so repetitive. They're like a copy of the Beatles. And that rebellious attitude of theirs doesn't fit their music. It doesn't interest me at all. Blur seem a bit more authentic but they don't really interest me that much either. I've also heard Coldplay, but do you know what? Radiohead are so good good that I don't really have much time for Coldplay There's a British band that everyone goes on about in Brazil, they're not necessarily from England, called Belle and Sebastian. I've listened to their albums and they're yre charming. There's even a hint of Bossa Nova there. They played "Baby" at a show Brazil. The girl sang Baby Portuguese! Unfortunately I didn't get I saw Brazil and liked was Stereolab, who've got a French in They them. The show.nch girl singing with played well , and were very engag- ing. But the British are are very affected, and British bands are are always a bit pretentious. It's fascinating, because, from the Smiths onwards, you can see it clearly. Even before the Smiths, with people like Brian Ferry and Roxy Music. How do you think the British see Brazilian music? What I find d amusing is that Brazilian music, Bossa Nova in par- ticular, has had much more of an impact on British music in the post- Rock'n Roll era. And in a diluted way, through Astrud (Gilberto) rather than João (Gilberto) and Tom (Jobim). You can hear her influence But the Girl and Matt Bianco Sade. There's something to do with Astrud and with Bossa Nova itself. It's like a Pop phenomenon. It's not like in the US and continental ope, where Everything on groups like notch original expression, adored above all by Jazz musicians such as Miles Davis, Stan Getz and Cannonball Adderley. This didn't happen till later in the UK, and yet it was a Pop phenomenon, with a more superficial hint of Bossa. And cover Feature jungle drums.org #17 October 2004