Documents from Gilberto Gil's Private Archive

Music (Lunik 9 and Maria) and the tartness of the protest movement, that is reflected in the work co- produced with the poets Torquato Neto (Louvação) and J.C. Capinam (Viramundo). The poignant Procissão, by Gil alone, already points to the aesthetic and political standpoint of the Tropicalia movement, which he would later found together with Caetono Veloso, Gal Costa, Tom Zé and the conductor Rogério Duprat. out In 1968. when Tropicalia shook up the Brazilian establishment, the composer released Gilberto Gil, where the tenets of the Tropicalia movement are set Anti-establishment lyrics, the sound of guitars and berimbaus, the music of Luiz Gonzaga and Jimi Hendrix, country music and urban rhythms, are mixed together and fuse with and confuse the Brazilian scene on a historical recording that reappears now along with four other songs from the same period. Marginalia II, Coragem Pra Suportar, and Ele Falava Nisso Todo Dia were well-aimed shots at the dull military regime which had taken control of the country, prohibiting freedom of speech. The musical concept of the record brought together the avant-garde erudition of the conductor Rogério Duprat and the avant-garde pop of the São Paulo band Os Mutantes. Gilberto Gil was recorded in 1969 during the composer's house arrest in Salvador, where he and Caetano had gone following their arrest in São Paulo and detention in Rio, as a consequence of the growing harshness of the military dictatorship. With arrangements by Duprat, the album was released when Gil and Caetano departed for London for an involuntary exile which was to last almost three years. Experimentation, rock and dissonance set the tone of the album, whose focus is on futuristic and esoteric themes, as evidenced by the vigorous Cerebro Eletronico and Futurivel. The emblematic samba Aquele Abraço defines the context and the concept of this album. 6 pop and rock music more widely and immediately than Caetano Veloso. In 1970, he was invited by the film-maker Rogério Sganzerla. to produce the soundtrack for the film Copacabana Mon Amour. where he took great pride in experimentation. It is only now, twenty-nine years later, that this work appears on record. Straight from Salvador to London, Gilberto Gil was able to explore the effervescence of British 1971's Gilberto Gil, his official English album, denotes his ability to assimilate and reinvent different tones and sounds. There are many pieces composed with the poet and composer Joge Mautner with restless results. In sync with the British scene, the singer covers Stevie Windood's melancholy Can't Find My Way Home with absurd propriety. Photo E. Crepaldi Upon his return to Brazil in 1972 he released the anthology Expresso 2222, where he mixes his longing for Brazil with his discovery of British pop and rock music, The thought-provoking Oriente and the quasi-auto- biographical O Sonho Acabou an allusion to the '60s and its idols - and Back to Bahia are a synthesis of the importance of this album, surely pointing to a new musical concept created by Gil - Brazilian pop/rock. A blend of rhythms and attitudes still used today by several artists who have succeded the Tropicalista generation. 1974, saw the release of Gilberto Gil Live, containing several new songs whose trade- marks are philosophical and thought-provoking lyrics. This is