Bio:
Sua carreira começou no acordeon, ainda nos anos 50. Inspirado por Luiz Gonzaga, pelo som do rádio, pelas procissões na porta de casa. No interior do Nordeste a sonoridade que explorava era a do sertão, até que surge João Gilberto, a bossa nova, e também Dorival Caymmi, com suas canções praieiras e o mundo litorâneo, tão diferente do mundo do sertão. Influenciado, Gil deixa de lado o acordeon e empunha o violão, e em seguida a guitarra elétrica, que abrigam as harmonias particulares da sua obra até hoje. Suas canções desde cedo retratavam seu país, e sua musicalidade tomou formas rítmicas e melódicas muito pessoais. Seu primeiro LP, Louvação, lançado em 1967, concentrava sua forma particular de musicar elementos regionais, como nas conhecidas canções Louvação, Procissão, Roda e Viramundo.
Em 1963 ao conhecer o amigo Caetano Veloso, na Universidade da Bahia, Gil inicia com Caetano uma parceria e um movimento que contempla e internacionaliza a música, o cinema, as artes plásticas, o teatro e toda a arte brasileira. A chamada tropicália, ou movimento tropicalista, envolve artistas talentosos e plurais como Gal Costa, Tom Zé, Rogério Duprat, José Capinam, Torquato Neto, Rogério Duarte, Nara Leão entre outros. Este movimento gera descontentamento da ditadura vigente, que o considera nocivo à sociedade com seus gestos e criações libertárias, e acaba por exilar os parceiros.
O exílio em Londres contribui para a influência ainda maior dos Beatles, Jimmi Hendrix e todo o mundo pop que despontava na época, na obra de Gil, que grava inclusive um disco em Londres, com canções em português e inglês.
Ao retornar ao Brasil, Gil dá continuidade a uma rica produção fonográfica, que dura até os dias de hoje. São ao todo quase 60 discos e em torno de 4 milhões de cópias vendidas, tendo sido premiado com 9 Grammys. Entre LPs, Cds e DVDs, como Expresso 2222, Refazenda, Viramundo, Refavela, Realce, UmBandaUm, Dia Dorim, Raça Humana, Unplugged MTV, Quanta, Eu Tu Eles, Kaya N`Gandaya, Banda Dois, Fé na Festa, Concerto de Cordas e Máquinas de Ritmo com Orquestra, entre tantos outros, Gil criou uma vasta e abrangente obra musical e áudio visual. Um de seus mais recentes trabalhos, Gilbertos Samba, é uma reinterpretação de canções gravadas por João Gilberto e uma homenagem do “discípulo para o mestre”. Em 2015 e 2016 celebrou com Caetano Veloso os 50 anos de carreira em um show histórico - Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música - registrado em CD e DVD.
Cada novo projeto de Gil tem suas formas consolidadas em suas diversas tournées pelo mundo. Todo disco vira show e muito show vira disco. Sempre disposto a realizar turnês nacionais e internacionais para cada novo projeto, Gil é presença confirmada anualmente nos maiores festivais e teatros da Europa. Realizou diversas turnês pelas Américas, Ásia, África, e Oceania. Gil tem um público cativo em seus shows no exterior, desde suas primeiras apresentações internacionais em 1971, a partir da sua marcante participação no festival de Montreux, em 1978.
Em 2002, após sua nomeação como Ministro da Cultura, Gil passa a circular também pelo universo sócio político, ambiental e cultural internacional. No âmbito do Minc, em particular, desenha e implementa novas políticas que vão desde a criação dos Pontos de Cultura até a presença protagonística do Brasil em Fóruns, Seminários e Conferências mundo afora, trabalhando temas que vão desde novas tecnologias, direito autoral, cultura e desenvolvimento, diversidade cultural e o lugar dos países do sul do planeta no mundo globalizado.
Suas múltiplas atividades vêm sendo reconhecidas por várias nações, que já o nomearam, entre outros, de Artista da Paz pela UNESCO em 1999, Embaixador da FAO, além de condecorações e prêmios diversos, como Légion d’ Honneur da França, Sweden’s Polar Music Prize, entre outros.
English:
His career began with the accordion, back in the 1950s. Inspired by Luiz Gonzaga, by the sound of the radio, by the processions at the doorstep. In the interior of the Northeast, the sound he explored was that of the hinterlands, until João Gilberto emerged, with bossa nova, and also Dorival Caymmi, with his beach songs and the coastal world, so different from the world of the hinterlands. Influenced, Gil set aside the accordion and took up the guitar, and then the electric guitar, which harbor the particular harmonies of his work to this day. His songs from an early age depicted his country, and his musicality took on very personal rhythmic and melodic forms. His first LP, "Louvação," released in 1967, concentrated on his particular way of musically interpreting regional elements, as in the well-known songs "Louvação," "Procissão," "Roda," and "Viramundo."
In 1963, upon meeting his friend Caetano Veloso at the University of Bahia, Gil began with Caetano a partnership and a movement that encompasses and internationalizes music, cinema, visual arts, theater, and all Brazilian art. The so-called Tropicália, or Tropicalist movement, involves talented and diverse artists such as Gal Costa, Tom Zé, Rogério Duprat, José Capinam, Torquato Neto, Rogério Duarte, Nara Leão, among others. This movement generates discontent from the prevailing dictatorship, which considers it harmful to society with its libertarian gestures and creations, and ends up exiling its partners.
Exile in London contributes to an even greater influence from the Beatles, Jimmi Hendrix, and the entire pop world that was emerging at the time, in Gil's work, who even records an album in London, with songs in Portuguese and English.
Upon returning to Brazil, Gil continues a rich phonographic production, which lasts until today. There are almost 60 albums in total and around 4 million copies sold, having been awarded 9 Grammys. Among LPs, CDs, and DVDs, such as "Expresso 2222," "Refazenda," "Viramundo," "Refavela," "Realce," "UmBandaUm," "Dia Dorim," "Raça Humana," "Unplugged MTV," "Quanta," "Eu Tu Eles," "Kaya N'Gandaya," "Banda Dois," "Fé na Festa," "Concerto de Cordas e Máquinas de Ritmo com Orquestra," among many others, Gil has created a vast and comprehensive musical and audiovisual oeuvre. One of his most recent works, "Gilbertos Samba," is a reinterpretation of songs recorded by João Gilberto and a homage from the disciple to the master. In 2015 and 2016, he celebrated 50 years of career with Caetano Veloso in a historic show - "Dois Amigos, Um Século de Música" - recorded on CD and DVD.
Each new project by Gil consolidates its forms through its various tours around the world. Every album becomes a show, and many shows become albums. Always willing to undertake national and international tours for each new project, Gil is a confirmed presence annually at the largest festivals and theaters in Europe. He has undertaken numerous tours throughout the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Gil has a captive audience at his shows abroad, since his first international appearances in 1971, starting with his remarkable participation at the Montreux festival in 1978.
In 2002, after being appointed Minister of Culture, Gil also began to circulate in the socio-political, environmental, and cultural international sphere. Within the Ministry of Culture, in particular, he designs and implements new policies ranging from the creation of Cultural Points to Brazil's prominent presence in Forums, Seminars, and Conferences worldwide, addressing topics ranging from new technologies, copyright, culture and development, cultural diversity, and the place of southern countries in the globalized world.
His multiple activities have been recognized by various nations, which have named him, among others, Artist for Peace by UNESCO in 1999, FAO Ambassador, as well as various decorations and awards such as the Légion d'Honneur from France, Sweden's Polar Music Prize, among others.
Contact Information
Management/Booking:
CONTATO PARA SHOWS
Gege Produções Artísticas
www.gege.com.br [email protected]
The Recôncavo is an almost invisible center-of-gravity. Circumscribing the Bay of All Saints, this region was landing for more enslaved human beings than any other such throughout all of human history. Not unrelated, it is also birthplace of some of the most physically & spiritually uplifting music ever made. —Sparrow
"Dear Sparrow: I am thrilled to receive your email! Thank you for including me in this wonderful matrix."
—Susan Rogers: Personal recording engineer for Prince, inc. "Purple Rain", "Sign o' the Times", "Around the World in a Day"... Director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory
I'm Pardal here in Brazil (that's "Sparrow" in English). The deep roots of this project are in Manhattan, where Allen Klein (managed the Beatles and The Rolling Stones) called me about royalties for the estate of Sam Cooke... where Jerry Ragovoy (co-wrote Time is On My Side, sung by the Stones; Piece of My Heart, Janis Joplin of course; and Pata Pata, sung by the great Miriam Makeba) called me looking for unpaid royalties... where I did contract and licensing for Carlinhos Brown's participation on Bahia Black with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
...where I rescued unpaid royalties for Aretha Franklin (from Atlantic Records), Barbra Streisand (from CBS Records), Led Zeppelin, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Airto Moreira, Jim Hall, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Ray Barretto, Philip Glass, Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd for his interest in Bob Marley compositions, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam and others...
...where I worked with Earl "Speedo" Carroll of the Cadillacs (who went from doo-wopping as a kid on Harlem streetcorners to top of the charts to working as a janitor at P.S. 87 in Manhattan without ever losing what it was that made him special in the first place), and with Jake and Zeke Carey of The Flamingos (I Only Have Eyes for You)... stuff like that.
Yeah this is Bob's first record contract, made with Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd of Studio One and co-signed by his aunt because he was under 21. I took it to Black Rock to argue with CBS' lawyers about the royalties they didn't want to pay. They paid.
MATRIX MUSICAL
The Matrix was built below among some of the world's most powerfully moving music, some of it made by people barely known beyond village borders. Or in the case of Sodré, his anthem A MASSA — a paean to Brazil's poor ("our pain is the pain of a timid boy, a calf stepped on...") — having blasted from every radio between the Amazon and Brazil's industrial south, before he was silenced. (that's me left, with David Dye & Kim Junod for U.S. National Public Radio) ... The Matrix started with Sodré, with João do Boi, with Roberto Mendes, with Bule Bule, with Roque Ferreira... music rooted in the sugarcane plantations of Bahia. Hence our logo (a cane cutter).