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GilbertoGil

GilbertoGil



GilbertoGil

"Multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter Gilberto Gil joined his first group, the Desafinados, in the mid-'50s and by the beginning of the 1960s was earning a living as a jingle composer. Although known mostly as a guitarist, he also holds his own with drums, trumpet, and accordion. He began playing the accordion when he was eight, and he listened to street singers in the marketplace around Salvador. By the end of the 1950s, Gil was studying business administration at Savlador's Federal University and playing with a group called Os Desafinados. At this time he heard singer and guitarist Joo Gilberto on the radio and was so impressed that he immediately bought a guitar and learned to play and sing the bossa nova. He spent the early '60s composing songs for TV ads, and in 1964, he was in Nos Por Exemplo, a show of bossa nova and traditional Brazilian songs directed by Caetano Veloso. In 1965, he moved to So Paulo, and after singing and playing in various shows, he had his first hit when singer Elis Regina recorded his song "Louvacao." He began to establish himself as a singer of protest songs, and he became very popular with Brazilians involved in the Tropicalia movement, which opened up native Brazilian folk music to other kinds of influences. The success of the single "Louvacao" inspired Gil to record an album of his own material with the same title. Gil made his first self-titled recording in 1966, but his first hit single didn't come about until 1969, with "Aquele Abraco." His musical fusion of bossa nova, samba, and other styles was so revolutionary it frightened the country's military dictatorship into arresting him, and that's when he headed to Great Britain. (He and Caetano Veloso were placed in solitary confinement while authorities figured out what they wanted to do with the pair.) After three years in England, where he had the chance to work with groups like Pink Floyd, Yes, the Incredible String Band, and Rod Stewart's band in London clubs, he returned to Brazil in 1972. He recorded Expresso 2222, which spurred two hit singles in Brazil, "Back in Bahia" and "Oriente." After playing at the Midem Festival in France in 1973, Gil recorded Ao Vivo in 1974. A year later, he recorded with Jorge Ben for the album Gil & Jorge. In 1976, he toured with Veloso, Gal Costa, and Maria Bethnia and released the Doces Braros album. For most of the rest of the 1970s, he recorded for a variety of Brazilian record companies until signing an international deal with the WEA group of labels in 1977. He toured U.S. colleges in 1978 and firmly established his place in the international jazz world with his albums Nightingale (1978) and Realce (1979). He also released a double live album in 1978, Gilberto Gil ao Vivo em Montreux, recorded during his performances at the jazz and blues festival in Switzerland. In 1980, Gil teamed up with reggae musician Jimmy Cliff. The pair toured Brazil, and Gil's cover of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" climbed to number one, selling 700,000 copies. Gil followed up in 1981 with Luar (A Gente Precisa Ver o Luar), one of his most acclaimed recordings. In 1982, he performed again at the Montreux Festival, but this time with Jimmy Cliff. He followed up with Um Banda Um (1982), Extra (1983), and Raa Humana (1984), the last recorded with Bob Marley's Wailers. In the late '70s, Gil became a prominent spokesman for the black consciousness movement then taking place in Brazil. In 1982, he had huge crossover success with "Palco,"which became popular in dance clubs and led to stadium tours of Europe. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., he would play mid-sized jazz clubs in New York City and Los Angeles. Gil celebrated his then two-decade career in 1985 with the album DIA Dorim Noite Neon (released in the U.S.), and released Gilberto Gil em Concerto, recorded live in Rio, in 1987. The early '90s saw Gil continuing his involvement in social and political causes in his native country, finding widespread support for his political stances, and he was elected to office in the port city of Salvador, his hometown, aka the Black Rome. A leader of the Tropicalia movement in Brazil in 1967 and 1968 along with artists like Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa, he and other musicians mixed native styles with rock and folk instruments. Because Gil fused samba, salsa, and bossa nova with rock and folk music, he's recognized today as one of the pioneers in world music. Among Gil's other albums are Refazenda (1975), Gilberto a Bahia (1985), and Parabolic (1992). He released Acoustic for the Atlantic Jazz label in 1994. On Acoustic, he's joined by Carlos Fonseca on acoustic guitar and Jorges Gomes on drums and mandolin." ~ Richard Skelly, All Music Guide
Celso.jpg Celso Machado Is Music.  He plays it, thinks it, lives and breathes it.  He even cooks it!  As a world-class musician and performer, he has mesmerized audiences around the world.  From his native Brazil, he has travelled the globe and taken his excitement and versatility on guitar, voice and percussion to explorative and virtuostic heights.  His discography includes numerous recordings of his never-ending repetoire of traditional Brazilian songs and rhythms; from Choro to Baião, Samba to Bossa Nova.  As a prolific composer and self-made ethnomusicologist, he has explored and integrated the sounds of North Africa, Italy, Egypt and the Mid-East into a unique Brazilian musical expression.  Celso's recordings"Jong Le" and "Varal and Capivara" have had Juno award nominations for best Global Music. 

Jovino Jovino Santos Neto creates a musical feast.  After 15 years as musical director, performer, composer and producer for the Hermeto Pascoal Group, he joined, and recorded "Encounters of the Fourth World", with Airto Moreira and Flora Purim.  He now composes and arranges for his own Quinteto in the Pacific Northwest and released ""Caboclo" and "Ao Vivo Em Olympia" Jovino is a brilliant, intuitive and impassioned pianist and flutist, who merges his passion for his Brazilian roots with jazz and classical expressions. In 2001 he collaborated with guitarist, Richard Boukas on a driving and brilliant CD,"Balaio" ,featuring compositions by and dedicated to Hermeto Pascoal "...beautifully recorded samba fusion. His works are fused with the intense and energetic rhythms of Brazil."

"Jovino Santos Neto, always a busy musician, surpassed himself this year and released two discs almost simultaneously: "Canto do Rio" with his Quinteto and "Serenata" with mandolinist Mike Marshall. The former is an album of the pianists own compositions, while the latter is dedicated to the work of Jovinos mestre, Hermeto Pascoal."

Jill Jill Russell, a true blue West Coast woman, is a soul-felt Brazilian After spending many years in the San Francisco and Bay area music scene; a hub of Latin and Brazilian music, she returned to Vancouver and met the real thing; Celso.  As a duo and sometimes trio, they worked extensively together for 6 years touring all the major festivals across Canada and schools in British Columbia. Their recording "Musica do Brasil" reflects her facility with choros, frevos and baiaos. In 1995 her love of these styles led her to Brazil, where she met up and played with different Choro groups. Celso and Jovino both play on "Check The Beans" and Jill's playing on flute and alto sax expresses her understanding and passion for Brazilian Jazz.

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