Documents from Gilberto Gil's Private Archive

minister of COOL Grammy award- winner Gilberto Gil, an icon of Brazilian music, is now also Minister of Culture in his country's left- leaning government. He talks about why music is always political and - surprisingly - why he thinks New Zealand has a lot to teach about good race relations. BY DIANA BURNS T he slight, natty man with the wide smile and neat, shoulder length dreadlocks commands the stage with undeniable charisma. Gilberto Gil, probably Brazil's greatest living musician, is compact streak of energy. He sarbas, be shimmies, and he specialises in fast-footwork moves that delight the audience. It is impossible to believe that he is 61: he looks decades younger. It is even harder to believe that this man, who sings with such power and feeling who flirts with the audience, who is every inch a performer, is also a key minister in the Brazilian Government. No wonder he has been dubbed the Minister of Cool. Two years ago, when Brazilians voted in their first left-wing government in over four decades, President Laula de Silva asked Gil to become Minister of Culture. It was in inspired appointment. The government wanted to show that it was on the side of the exmmon people, and that even 26 underprivileged people could be part of cultural life. No one else could command the popularity and respect that Gil does. "Lula said to me, I want these dreadlocks in my government", says Gil. laughing "To him they were a symbol of new times, new people, a new society. Dreadlocks symbol se rebellion - being unconventional and non-aligned. That's what this government wanted to be Lula wanted culture to get to the people living in the flovelas Islums and the people without homes or land." Gil is black, in a country where the whiter your skin, the better off you tend to be. Most Brazilian blacks, descended from the millions of slaves brought from Africa to work on Brazil's sugar and coffee planta tions, still struggle for true equality. He is from Bahia, a poor, predominantly black state in the north of Brazil, and knows what it is to come from a humble background. He often shows that he identifies with the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomble by wearing all white, as he does it his first Wellington concert. And he has moal political credibility As one of the founders in the 1960s of "Tropicalia" - a happy mix of indigenous music with some of the new elements in Western music - Gil wrote impassioned songs criticising the military dictatorship then in power. He went to prison in Brazil for his efforts, and then spent two years in exile in London FAR FROM BEING BITTER, Gil credits the time in prison with giving him the time to read widely, on everything from Eastern religion to Western business management theory. He was fascinated by the emerg. ing hippy movement, and identified with its doctrines of peace and love. When he read that John Lennon and Yoko Ono had adopted a macrobiotic diet, he decided to do the same. He has stuck with it ever since. That, plus meditation and the hour's yoga he practises every day are probably the secrets of his extraordinary LISTENER MARCH 20 2004 youthfulness. His small, wiry body is toned and spry. His eyes sparkle with profound vitality, and a high, smooth biow disappears into thick hair with no trake of grey "I am an ascetic, but I am not rigid in anything", says Gil. "T allow myself treats Who knows. I may even try your famous New Zealand lamb! But I want to give my body and my soul a chance to extend their dialogue with nature This is classic Gil-speak - unorthodox and deeply spiritual. Although the man is accused by some conservatives in Brazil of being flaky , in person it is his wisdom and humility that shine out. During his exile in London. Gil first heard the music of the great Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley in 1971. It changed his life. "First of all, I loved the music. It was happy and joyful, with a great beat. I could hear the sun in it. But I also loved the reggan philosophy. Bob Marley sang MARCH 20 2004 LISTENER Gilberto Gil: feel the love, man Brazil is 32 times bigger than New Zealand in physical size. With 178 million people, about everyone having the right to be free it has the sixth biggest population in the and happy, and to live in peace. He cham world, and a diverse one. It has the most pioned the poor people, and encouraged blacks outside Africa, the most Japanese them to stand up for their rights. He was outside Japan, and large communities a great poet and philosopher as well as a of Europeans. It's currently the world's brilliant musician 11th largest economy, but is growing fast, and is second only to China as an emerging economy. Though there are huge gaps between rich and poor in Brazil, the richest 16 percent are rich beyond the wildest dreams of New Zealanders - and there are 27 million of them. Gil's love affair with pe culminated in his visiting Jamaica last year to record a CD with some of the greats of reggae, including Marley's daughter Rita. The second of Gill Wellington concerts is a tribute to Bob Marley, and reggae has never sounded better. The audience is swaying, mcking or up dancing to the imesistible rhythms. A consummate performer, Gil also shows his political colours. He tells the audience with great feeling how things must change, and that everyone in the world deserves to participate in life and culture. Big on audience participation, he works the audience into a frenzy, imitating his vocal gymnastics, then asks, "Do you feel the love?" "Yes!" thay yell as one. This would have to be one of the best ways ever for a government to get to that clusive youth demographic. Could Helen Clark, our awn Minister of Culture, learn something here? Everyone in that audience would have voted for Gil instantly, given the chance. The note, Helen - it may not be too late to take up the guitar. GIL'S IDENTIFICATION with the poor, black and incligenous communities in Brazil made him very interested in New Zealand's Maori culture - and he was impressed by what he saw. moments before the first of his Wellington There was one of those spine-tingling concerts. The staff of the New Zealand ional Arts Festival performed a powhiri. When it was time for him and his hand to respond with a waiata, Gil leaned back, closed his eyes, and began to sing in his native Portuguese, in a voice so pure and true that it could break your heart." want to know where is the la love..." Gil believes New Zealand has a great deal to teach Brazil about how different races can live together in peace and dignity. This may seem ironic, as New Zealand seems to be entering a volatile phase in our race relations "I am impressed by the relationship between your indigenous people and the colonies. You have mostly been able to live harmoniously, and develop a new society together. I know this hasn't been achieved yet, but the signs are all there. I only hope that in Brazil we can learn from you, and do the same. But, of course, we are a much bigger country, and it is a hardes task." To call Brazil simply bigger does not convey the size of the difference between us. The giant of the southern hemisphere. New Zealand business is in the process of trying to get a slice of the considerable Brazilian action, and Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Phil Goff visited it last week to help that process, but the average New Zealander is ignorant about our huge regional neighbour . Scantily clad samba dancers, beaches and the Rio carnival are all we tend to know of the place. Kiwis knowledge of Brazilian music is likewise scant. Gil, who last year won a Latin Grammy and is undoubtedly one of the most admired Latin performers in the world, did not even manage to completely fill Wellington's Queen's Wharf Events Centre for two nights. Of that unfortunate venue, Gil politely says, "We did the best we could with that gymnasium WITH ITS HUGE SOCIAL problems and millions of poor people, Brazil has become a leading voice in the anti-globalisation movement. "We have to fight for our own culture, and develop it," says Gil. "Industry and diversity, and let everyone participate. Our progress are good, as long as we respect government supports globalisation that includes everyone. We can't escape it, but we have to make sure that poor societies also get to share in the wealth.” Gil is allergic to political labels, but if pressed, will describe himself as a green Socialist . "In Brazil, we will use whatever eco- nomic system can work to create a socially and economically harmonious society Simply, we want al society where people can live and let live, love and let love." That word again. Love is mentioned a lot by Gil. He mess it in the Execadest possible sense, he explains. "There is a lot of suffer ing in life. It is up to us human beings to balance that with happiness and joy. Music speaks of life, and can show ways forward A musician is always a translator, from one language into another that is beyond words And politics is always part of life, too." As the clated audience leaves Gil's second concert, I hear a young Maori man say to another, without sarcasm. "Hey -Seel the love, man." Gil's point exactly