Um Banda Um: Gilberto Gil and Umbanda

In the song Banda Um, Gil plays on the words banda (band) and um (one) to reveal his connection to Umbanda—an Afro-Brazilian religion that, for him, was almost a precursor to the rites of the Candomblé religion. At the time of the record's release in 1981, Gil spoke somewhat poetically about this, saying:

 "Umbanda's universal meaning is a divergence from the closed cult of religions, whether Candomblé or Catholic, both of which are monistic, each with their own truth. Umbanda is essentially pantheist. It is a religion that is not one but all, mixing Kardecism, Catholicism...

"... and African polytheism. And Banda Um is a musical synthesis with a pan-cultural concept and purpose; a song that nurtures ideas about music, youth, behavior, consumption, and different forms of nationalism."

Banda Um is one thing and Umbanda another: they are exact opposites. Banda Um is one band; Umbanda is all bands. According to Gil, "The sound ‘UmBandaUm' (with the verse's successive repetition of ‘Banda Um’ forming the word ‘Umbanda’) creates a play on opposites: it mutually embeds both meanings into the song.

"... Discovering all this inspired me to choose ‘Um Banda Um’ as the title for the album. Although I wavered quite a lot over it, I did come round to the idea of using this kind of wordplay. It can sometimes be a bit gratuitous...

"... But when you find a solution that is both simple and full of meaning, which is the case here—the word ‘Umbanda’ carries a lot of meaning in Brazil—then it's fine. So I ended up going with it."

Manuscripts of the song Metáfora, from the album Um Banda Um.

Andar com Fé became one of Gil's most successful tunes.

Nossa is one of the most romantic songs in the album.

Afoxé É: musical rhythm that came from Africa accompanying the religious traditions.

Setlist for the Um Banda Um concert included mysticism and science.