Karaoke with Gilberto Gil: sing his hits to the original music tracks

Karaoke was first brought to Brazil by Japanese immigrants at the start of the 19th century and it has been in and out of fashion ever since. 

Whether with backing from a live band or via a machine playback, the playlist tends to be huge, with a bit of everything from Brazilian music.

The Gilberto Gil playlist typically includes some of his biggest hits, such as Aquele Abraço, Andar Com Fé, Vamos Fugir, and Esperando na Janela. 

For any Gilberto Gil fan who wants to sing some of his other songs, there is an alternative menu that contains more than just his hits, and what's more, you'll be backed by the band that was in the studio with the great man himself.

This treasure trove will not be available in the bars in São Paulo's Liberdade district or in Rio's Feira de São Cristóvão, and most certainly not in the land where it all began. We would, however, like to explain where these tracks came from so that the story behind them will not end up mirroring the lost origins of karaoke (see "The history of Karaoke" below). 

When going through Gilberto Gil's digitized archives, we found a series of playbacks of his songs. 

They were probably takes that were recorded before Gil added the vocals. Perhaps he took them out of the studio to listen, analyze, rehearse, and familiarize himself with the music before picking up the microphone and capturing each of these songs for posterity.

Karaoke has been such an integral part of Japanese entertainment and culture for so long that even the Japanese cannot explain how it all began. 

In addition to the origins of the word karaoke—it is a noun made up of the words kara (空 = empty) and ōkesutora (オーケストラ = orchestra)—it is believed that the pastime first started either at parties or by using records which contained the orchestra soundtrack but which had an "empty space" instead of the vocals.

In the 1970s, there was an explosion of machines which were programmed with a number of song soundtracks and they came with a microphone attached so that you could sing along with the music. 

This invention by the Japanese Daisuke Inoue spread like wildfire and even today, it is still used in bars all around the world.

Karaoke machines are popular in Brazil, but so are live karaoke nights, with singers—whether amateur or professional – performing to live band music in nightclubs that cater for this "traditional" karaoke.

With more modern units and improvements in digital technology, there are now even systems that allow you to bring karaoke into your own home. 

First came the DVD machines with CDs, then the  All-in-Ones with the music stored on a chip inside the microphone. These were followed by the professional Silverjuke computer software and the SingStar games for PlayStation2.

Nowadays, there are digital versions in the form of apps that can be downloaded onto mobile phones free of charge.

The latest innovation is the Google Arts & Culture karaoke, with entertainment that only Gil himself could provide.  We have made a few options available for anyone who would like to be Gilberto Gil for a day! So just rewind and have fun!