Gil and the producers: when songs turn into records

At the beginning, Gil used to have a reclusive attitude towards the producers’ work. He would bring his songs and let them conduct the process of turning these into phonograms.

This had happened, for instance, when he recorded his first compacts and first album, Louvação (1967), under the production of João Mello.

In the following years, it worked the same way when he collaborated with other producers that helped shape the changings in his musical style and his maturation as songwriter. Such is the case, for instance, of Manuel Barebein, who was his producer during the Tropicália phase.

Barebein produced albums released in 1968 and 1969, as well as the manifest-album Tropicália ou Panis et Circensis, which gathered several artists of the musical movement that promoted a revolution in the scene of the Brazilian music in the 1960s, such as Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, Os Mutantes, and Nara Leão.

It was this bandleader attitude that he adopted in the recording of the following albums, when he worked with producers like Perinho Albuquerque and Marco Mazzola. During the record of Refazenda (1975), Mazzola and Perinho shared production.

After working with Roberto Sant’Ana in Refavela (1977), Gil met Mazzola again in the studio during the recording of Realce (1979), album that earned him a platinum disc.

Impressed by Liminha’s portfolio, Gil invited him to produce the record Luar (a gente precisa ver o luar) in 1981.

Soon after, there were the albums Um Banda Um (1982) and Extra (1983), two proofs that the dialogue was successful.

From that moment on, they consolidated a partnership that lasted decades and yielded fourteen records altogether.

The two became business partners in the opening of the recording studio Nas Nuvens, in Jardim Botânico neighborhood, Rio de Janeiro, which have turned the stage for the production of historic albums of Brazilian music. The place had turned, according to Liminha, into a “cultural center”, a hot spot for artists.

Unlike other studios, usually located in the closed corridors of big offices buildings, Nas Nuvens was inaugurated in one of the greener neighborhoods of the city, even having a backyard and plenty of room.

Less interested in technicalities of the recording, Gil would let the producer run the equipment. He used to say “the clicking is God” (the metronome should be obeyed), but, in case he had a sudden intuition, it should be followed.

In the 1980s, the two worked in the albums Quilombo (1984), recording the soundtrack of the homonymous movie by cineaste Cacá Diegues, Dia Dorim Noite Neon (1985), Soy Loco Por Ti America (1987), and Gilberto Gil em Concerto (1987)

In the 1990s, they worked on Parabolicamará (1992), Tropicália 2 (1993), which set his reunion with musician and partner Caetano Veloso, and Quanta (1997). In the 2000s, they met again in three projects: Eletroacústico (2004), Banda Larga Cordel (2008), and BandaDois (2009).

When Capone joined Gil in the production of Kaya N’Gan Daya, he became part of one of the most important moments in musician’s career. That is the case because most of the album was recorded in Kingston, Jamaica, in legendary Tuff Gong Studios, with some musicians who had played with Bob Marley.

In Brazil, Tom Capone gathered Brazilian artists in his studio, Toca do Bandido, and added berimbaus, accordions and flutes, which lent the album a northeastern identity, leading to Kaya N’Gan Daya ao Vivo in 2003.

The early passing of Tom Capone, in 2004, in a motorcycle accident, prevented partnership to move forward, but the short time they have worked together was long enough to list Capone among the most important producers within Gilberto Gil’s discography.

After gaining experience as artistic direction assistant in the production of the álbum Fé na Festa ao Vivo (2010), in 2014 Bem took over the production of the album Gilbertos Samba, sided by musician Moreno Veloso, Caetano Veloso’s son.

In 2018, Bem produced OK OK OK, an album of unreleased and authorial songs, which reflect the memories, affections, and state of mind of the Bahia-born songwriter at that time.

The album won a Latin Grammy in 2019, in the category Best MPB Album, consolidating Gil’s maturation as musical producer and announcing a new phase in Gil’s career.