Documents from Gilberto Gil's Private Archive

Dominion Post March 2004 Brazilliant: Musician Gilberto Gil Spirit of Brazil from the minister of music WHO: Gilberto Gil WHERE: The Events Centre REVIEWED BY: Simon Sweetman GILBERTO GIL is a proneer of mod- em Brazilian music. Once ailed and then exited for his controversial mu. sic (under the strict rule of a former right wing government) he is now, under new left-wing rule, the Minis- ter of Culture, honoured as Person or The Year at the 2003 Latin Grammy Awards. The music Gil creates is a fusion of typical Brazilian rhythms mixed with samba and bossa nova, and taking in: rock, funk, Afro-Cuban jazz and polit- ical folk music. Backed by a superb nine-plece band, Gil danced across 8. the stage with boundless energy (he is 61 years old). His voice is deeply reso- nant, rich in tone and wide ranging from raw blues to sweet, high soul. The music and philosophy of Bob Marley has been a huge influence on Gil - he is performing a separate tribute show to Marley - but his first show focused on his own music. An early cover of Marley's No Woman No Cry, with verses in both English and Portuguese, was greeted with huge applause before Gil rolled from percussion-heavy funk grooves and traditional samoa grooves to lilting. deftly fingerpicked Latin ballads. It is clear that regine has been a huge influence on Gi's music and he combines the feel of reggae with cins sic samba splendidly. The perfect evi- dence of that was his take on the Antonio Carlos Jobim standard, The Girl From Ipanema. Gll made it his own and with a song that has been covered as many times as it has, that was no mean fent. The two female backing singers serve up sweet harmonies. The drum mers (one trapset player and one per cussionist) combine with a nimble fingered five-string bassist to push the grooves forward. All the while, Gil sings with a clar. ity and passion that is seldom wit. nessed. It is very clear to see that music is inspiration for Gul; the audi ence loves every minute of the con cert, but no one seems more into it than Gil himself. Music is his life- blood Returning for an encore of four extended jams, Gil leaves the stage to a standing ovation, the aisles flooded with dancers, the spirit of Brazil float: ing through Queens Wharf Brazilian culture is being well.