Documents from Gilberto Gil's Private Archive

seducing. He took so many responsibilities, and he was so elegant, so proficient, so stimulating in everything that he did and the way he did it. He was so new, so fresh. He brought so many novelties, so many new messages to the world. In modern terms, he was one of the greatest icons that we have. “Before him," Gil adds, "we had João Gilberto and Tom Jobim giving us a different thing, a new kind of music. And after João Gilberto came Bob Marley, and he inaugurated a whole different style of music-reggae, of course, but more than that. In Marley's hands, reggae is even more original. It's a kind of music that is so wide that anything can be done in reggae style. I used to say that reggae as a style, as an invention, corresponds to a kind of bossa nova of rock 'n' roll. It did to rock 'n' roll what bossa nova did to samba: It brought tenderness, softness. It softened the beat in a very inventive and creative way. Since the late '80s, Gil has also been active politically, especially in his home city of Salvador, where he served as a minister of culture. "Among many other things," he recalls, "we had some projects to develop the relationships between Bahia and Africa. We helped new cultural initiatives in Bahia like the Olodum project, and we also started the restoration of the colonial neighborhoods in the central landmark areas of Bahia." As a city councilman, he took up environmental issues; in 1991, he performed in New York with Jobim, Veloso, Elton John and Sting to generate funding and support for an Amazon project called the Mata Virgem (Virgin Forest). When he finished his term in 1992, he "put an end to political activities in an institutional sense," while continuing to speak out publicly and through his music on matters that attracted his interest. Four years ago, Gil became associated with a social program, Comunidad Solidaria, sponsored by the president's office. "The project is directed by the first lady, and I'm part of the council," he says. "I'm helping them to deal with the criticism that the government is not really looking after social programs. We have a budget that is already very strict, and we have many other areas education and health programs to attend to. We're trying to find a way to Nimbus Records PACO PEÑA Arte y Pasión "One of today's finest exponents of flamenco puro." GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE This dazzling recording of the immensely successful live show Arte y Pasión captures all the energy and excitement of a complete "flamenco experience of singing, dancing and spectacular guitar playing. Paco Peña is joined by the Flamenco Dance Company and the Losada brothers on guitar for this enthralling and powerful display of flamenco art. NIM 5602 • 2 CDs - Specially Priced Nimbus Records titles are available at finer record stores everywhere. To order by telephone, call H&B Recordings Direct 1-800-222-6872 www.nimbus.ltd.uk 2 CD make the government on all three levels federal, state and municipal—be a little more interconnected for these programs. We want to improve them and give them a level of professionalism between the different areas, reassembling and rearranging the whole administrative structure." It's hard to imagine an American musician taking such an active role in government, but Gil resists the notion that artists are more politically and socially influential in Brazil than in the U.S. "If we seem to take a more prominent position, it's only due to the fact that we need a little more help." he says. "Because we are still a poor society, we have a lot more to do to reach the internationally desirable levels of social accomplishment and efficiency. The fact that we are artists gives us an opportunity to act a little more and to engage ourselves in terms of being individuals and citizens and working with the community. So, yes, Brazilian artists engage themselves, but I think it's more of a job we do as citizens than as artists. In the U.S.it seems to come out mostly in the music. If you look at the rap-music area, it's very strong in terms of interpreting community demands, community criticism and so forth. They go very deep into those matters." Gil himself has flirted with rap from time time, but he doesn't expect much of it to surface this fall when he undertakes a tour (still in the planning stages) of the U.S. "Basically I'll be with the group from Quanta Live," he says, "but we'll do more than we did on the album. Hopefully, we'll have a program that we can stretch a little more, with the blues, with improvisation." And with more Bob Marley? Gil chuckles for a moment. "I hope so," he concludes. "That's my plan, to sneak in a new number or two. But one thing's for sure: With this band, no matter what we play, we'll be cooking." R Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company with The Losadas Live in Concert Arte y Pasion JUNE 1999. RHYTHM | 31