Gilberto Gil's Discography: 'All albums have a biography' - Part 5

Writer of other biographies for Brazilian music albums gives an overview of Gilberto Gil’s records, which contain experiences and reflections.

By Instituto Gilberto Gil

Text: Chris Fuscaldo*, journalist and music researcher

Gilberto Gil posa de lado para ensaio antes do show BandaDois (2009-09-28)Instituto Gilberto Gil

As Minister of Culture

Splitting into two during the period he served as Minister of Culture, from 2003 to 2008, Gilberto Gil released albums that reflected the past and the future.

Capa do álbum Eletracústico, de Gilberto Gil (2004)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Farolito durante a turnê do álbum Eletracústico de Gilberto Gil
00:00

In 2004, he released Eletracústico on CD and DVD. With it, the singer, songwriter and then minister of Culture won the Grammy for Best World Music.

Capa do DVD Eletracústico, de Gilberto Gil (2004)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Capa do álbum Gil Luminoso, de Gilberto Gil (2006)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Gil Luminoso, from 2006, which had originally been inserted in a book by Bene Fonteles, was released by the Biscoito Fino label and rescues career songs in intimate recordings.

Capa do álbum Banda Larga Cordel, de Gilberto Gil (2008)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Banda Larga Cordel
00:00

First completely new album since Quanta, the CD Banda Larga Cordel (2008) combined his healthy obsession with the internet world, in the title track, with the Africanness that was always in his heart, in La Renaissance Africaine.

Ministro Gilberto Gil, Abdoulaye Wade, presidente do Senegal, e o presidente do Brasil, Lula, durante visita à Ilha de Gorée (2005-04-14)Instituto Gilberto Gil

La Renaissance Africaine, is a song/hymn composed on request for the Dakar Arts Festival, which he visited with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in 2005.

Capa do álbum Bandadois, de Gilberto Gil (2009)Instituto Gilberto Gil

More live albums

One more album recorded on stage, BandaDois came out in 2009. The following year, he took two more Latin Grammys: Best Album of Brazilian Popular Music, with BandaDois, and Best Album of Brazilian Roots Music, with Fé na Festa, released in 2010.

Capa do DVD BandaDois, de Gilberto Gil (2009)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Capa do álbum Fé na Festa, de Gilberto Gil (2010)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Fé na Festa
00:00

Gilberto Gil's fifty-seventh album, the studio Fé na Festa took the artist back to his origins: maxixe, baião, xote and forró mingled with tropicalist ideas.

Capa do álbum Fé na Festa - Ao Vivo, de Gilberto Gil (2010)Instituto Gilberto Gil

The work was completely dedicated to popular saint parties and, on the stage, was recorded. Fé na Festa Ao Vivo was released in 2010 also in DVD, as a documentary directed by Andrucha Waddington.

Capa do DVD Fé Na Festa: Ao Vivo, de Gilberto Gil (2010)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Capa do álbum Especial Ivete, Gil e Caetano, de Gilberto Gil e Ivete Sangalo (2011)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Other live albums

In 2011, he released Ivete, Gil e Caetano with singer Ivete Sangalo and his longtime partner Caetano Veloso, a recording of a television special broadcast by TV Globo.

Capa do álbum Concerto de Cordas e Máquinas de Ritmo, de Gilberto Gil (2012)Instituto Gilberto Gil

In 2012, Gilberto Gil took his Concerto de Rodas e Máquinas de Ritmo to stage and to a record, both intimate and sophisticated.

Capa do álbum Gilbertos Samba, de Gilberto Gil (2014)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Desafinado
00:00

After much celebration of forró, his first musical reference when he was a child, in 2014 Gil celebrated the repertoire of João Gilberto and the sambas he fell in love with as a teenager in Gilbertos Samba.

Capa do álbum Gilbertos Samba Ao Vivo, de Gilberto Gil (2014)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Gilbertos Samba Ao Vivo was also released in 2014. This work earned Gil the Best Special DVD trophy at the 26th Brazilian Music Awards.

Capa do DVD Gilbertos Samba Ao Vivo, de Gilberto Gil (2012)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Capa do álbum Dois Amigos - Um Século de Música, de Gilberto Gil e Caetano Veloso (2015)Instituto Gilberto Gil

In 2015, Gil and Caetano celebrated the 50th anniversary of their friendship on the album Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música. The half a century mark yielded a show that went around the world and got recorded. The work won the Best MPB Album trophy at the Brazilian Music Awards.

Capa do DVD Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música, de Gilberto Gil e Caetano Veloso (2015)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Capa do álbum O Poeta e O Esfomeado, de Gilberto Gil e Jorge Mautner (2015)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Also in 2015, the show O Poeta e O Esfomeado, performed in 1987 with Jorge Mautner, was released on CD by the Discobertas label.

Capa do álbum Trinca de Ases, de Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa e Nando Reis (2017)Instituto Gilberto Gil

In 2017, Gil teamed up with Gal Costa and Nando Reis for a project in Brasília. The partnership was so successful that the trio went on tour with the show Trinca de Ases, which was recorded on CD and DVD.

Capa do álbum Ok, ok, ok, de Gilberto Gil (2018)Instituto Gilberto Gil

OK OK OK
00:00

After the storm

For Gilberto Gil, 2016 was a difficult year. In and out of the hospital to treat a kidney problem, he took a break from the stage and the studio. As soon as he was discharged, he made an entire album based on that experience: OK OK OK came out in 2018.

The album features two tracks dedicated to his doctors: Quatro Pedacinhos and Kalil. In addition, more introspective songs "thought out" after this rebirth.

Capa do álbum Gil Baiana Ao Vivo em Salvador, de Gilberto Gil e Baiana System (2020)Instituto Gilberto Gil

In isolation

In the times of the coronavirus pandemic, Gil continued with releases. In 2020, while the world was isolating itself, the digital platforms got an album shared by the Bahian and his fellow Baiana System members, recorded in late 2019: Gil Baiana Ao Vivo in Salvador.

Capa do álbum São João em Araras de Gilberto Gil (2021)Instituto Gilberto Gil

And in 2021, respecting isolation, Gil decided to put on the streets the record made the previous year at his home, in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro. Here is São João em Araras – Ao Vivo, where he interprets great June festivities hits not only of his own authorship, but also of Luiz Gonzaga, Dominguinhos, Antonio Barros, Targino Gondim, Zé Dantas, Humberto Teixeira among others.

Gilberto Gil no palco do Teatro Bradesco (2009-09-28)Instituto Gilberto Gil

Every record has a story

“A good part of my thematic repertoire, of themes that gave songs, songs, titles of records or albums, is linked to technology issues, which is a fascination of mine...

“...I have always been fascinated by the idea that technologies influence human behavior and human choices, in relation to how to walk, how to progress. They all have existence, life, biography.”


Gilberto Gil

Continues in Part 6.

Credits: Story

Exhibit credits

Research and text: Chris Fuscaldo (*author of Discobiografia Legionária and Discobiografia Mutante: Álbuns que Revolucionaram a Música Brasileira)
Assembly: Patrícia Sá Rêgo


General credits

Editing and curation: Chris Fuscaldo / Garota FM 
Musical content research: Ceci Alves, Chris Fuscaldo, Laura Zandonadi and Ricardo Schott 
Ministry of Culture content research: Carla Peixoto, Ceci Alves, Chris Fuscaldo 
Captions: Anna Durão, Carla Peixoto, Ceci Alves, Chris Fuscaldo, Daniel Malafaia, Fernanda Pimentel, Gilberto Porcidonio, Kamille Viola, Laura Zandonadi, Lucas Vieira, Luciana Azevedo, Patrícia Sá Rêgo, Pedro Felitte, Ricardo Schott, Roni Filgueiras e Tito Guedes 
Data editing: Isabela Marinho and Marco Konopacki
Gege Produções Review: Cristina Doria
Acknowledgements Gege Produções, Gilberto Gil, Flora Gil, Gilda Mattoso, Fafá Giordano, Maria Gil, Meny Lopes, Nelci Frangipani, Cristina Doria, Daniella Bartolini e todos os autores das fotos e personagens da história
All media: Instituto Gilberto Gil
*Every effort has been made to credit the images, audios and videos and correctly tell the story about the episodes narrated in the exhibitions. If you find errors and/or omissions, please contact us by email atendimentogil@gege.com.br

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
Explore more
Related theme
Gilberto Gil
A musical journey into the sound of Brazilian icon, Gilberto Gil
View theme
Home
Discover
Play
Nearby
Favorites