SUN APR 12 2015
Gilberto Gil CHAN CENTRE FOR THE PERFORM ING ARTS AT UBC
“I no longer see music as a field to be exploited.
I see it now as an alternative area of action, part of a broad repertory of possibilities that I have. Music is something visceral in me, something that exudes from me, and even when I’m not thinking about it, I will still be making music, always.” – Gilberto Gil (In an interview with The New York Times, March 2007)
Gilberto Gil Presented by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Pre-show Talk
6:15pm, Royal Bank Cinema
Universal Sound: Gilberto Gil, Bossa Nova and Tropicรกlia With author and UBC Professor Dr. Alessandra Santos.
Concert
7:00pm, Chan Shun Concert Hall
Gilberto Gil vocals and guitar Bem Gil guitar and percussion Domenico Lancellotti percussion and electronics Erivaldo Oliveira accordion and percussion
Set list will be announced from the stage.
There will be one 20 minute intermission.
Please remember to turn off your cell phones, and note that photography and recording are not permitted. Thank you!
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PHOTO: JORGE BISPO
Gilberto Gil Gilberto Gil’s illustrious career spans four decades with over 50 albums released, multiple GRAMMY Awards won, twelve gold records, five platinum singles, and more than five million records sold. As a singer, guitarist, composer, and diplomat, Gil plays a key role in the modernization of music and culture throughout the world. Gil has tackled a wide variety of important issues in his lyrics from social inequality to race relations, from African to Asian culture, from science to religion, among others. The mastery with which Gil explores these subjects makes him one of the greatest Brazilian lyricists to date. 4
As a child growing up in the countryside of Bahia, Brazil, when he ran after the first clarinet sounds of the band that crossed town to celebrate religious festivities, Gilberto Gil realized that music was his language. Although Gil chose to develop a solid body of work on the guitar, his first foray into music was on the accordion, initially inspired by the local bands and radio music. An early influence was Luiz Gonzaga, who pioneered the musical genre Baião in northeast Brazil, blending classic European folk music and Asian, African and Indian music in a modern format. In the 1960s, Gil and guitarist/singer Caetano Veloso created the radically innovative Tropicália movement, assimilating pop culture and national genres of art and music. He and fellow musicians mixed traditional samba, salsa, and bossa nova musical styles with rock and folk instruments. Tropicália was eventually deemed a threatening movement by the Brazilian government, resulting in Gil and Veloso’s arrests in 1969, prison sentence, and eventual exile to London, England. Living in London exposed Gil to other popular musical styles, including reggae, rock, and jazz. Upon his return to Brazil in 1972, Gil focused on his musical career and environmental advocacy work. Gilberto Gil launched a political career in 1987 which initially included stints as secretary of culture, a member of city council and city commissioner for environmental protection. In 1990, Gil left the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, joined the Green Party and founded the environmental and ocean protection organization Onda Azul (Blue Wave). In 2001, Gil accepted a nomination to be a Goodwill Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and in 2003 under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva he became Brazil’s Minister of Culture. Gil continued to develop his talent and passion for mixing genres, releasing a seemingly endless series of albums spanning multiple decades. Among these were Quanta Live (1999) and Eletracústico (2005), which received GRAMMY Awards for Best World Music Album and Best Contemporary World Music Album respectively, and As Canções De Eu, Tu, Eles (2001) and São João Vivo (2002), which were both awarded the Latin GRAMMY for Best Brazilian Roots / Regional Album. His inspirational life story and cultural influence has also been the subject of documentary films including Viramundo (2013) and Tropicália (2012). Gil’s new album, Gilbertos Samba, reinterprets classics recorded by João Gilberto and a variety of other gifted musicians such as Tom Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes, Carlos Lyra and Caetano Veloso and includes songs from Gil’s early repertoire. Caetano Veloso says of Gilbertos Samba, “Now Gilberto, the name that Gil shares with João, appears in plural form, as an album title where the former disciple pays tribute to the eternal master. Nothing could say more about Gil than to go back to the legacy of João Gilberto…with an artistic temperament that contrasts with that of the master. To listen to Gil playing João is to come into contact with the whole adventure of our music and our life.” For his unflinching creative engagement in bringing to the world the heart and soul of the Brazilian music, Gilberto Gil has received many honours and prizes in Brazil and abroad including the Swedish Polar Prize and the French Legion of Honour. A unique composer powered by immense talent and curiosity; a unique musical ambassador powered by firm cultural conviction. 5
Exploring the role of the arts and artists in society. chancentre.com/connects
Q&A with Celso Machado On the occasion of tonight’s performance, we asked Brazil-born and Gibsons, BC-based guitarist Celso Machado to talk about the influence Gilberto Gil has had on his life and music. To read the full Q&A, visit the Chan Centre Blog: chancentre.com/blog. On hearing Gilberto Gil for the first time: “In 1969, I was living with two of my brothers. One of them brought home Gil’s album, Louvação. From that day our lives were dedicated to Gilberto Gil. He influenced my music in every way – musically, emotionally, personally. He has incredible charisma, very charismatic. The kind of person he is comes through in his music.” On being an Afro-Brazilian musician living in Canada: “If I travel to parts of Canada, even listening to Gilberto, I always see my current surroundings in the music. I wish international musicians on tour could see the nature in the small parts of this country, not just the big cities.” On his favourite memory of Gilberto: “I sat on the couch and took the guitar and there was one song – my favourite song on that Louvação album, called “Roda” – so I decided to play my arrangement for solo guitar. I played it for [Gilberto], he was sitting beside me and he got a matchbox or a cassette or something and he was accompanying me on percussion. It was amazing, one of the greatest highlights of my career.”
UBC School of Music Fanfares The fanfare performed in the lobby prior to this concert (6:30pm and 6:45pm) was commissioned by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts as part of an ongoing partnership with the UBC School of Music and their composition students and performers. Carnaval Fanfarra “This brief fanfare is inspired by the rhythms and energy of the Brazilian Carnival in ode to Gilberto Gil.” - Christiaan Venter
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Christiaan Venter composer Ben Thauland trumpet
Nick Robson trumpet Kevin Lin trombone
Theresa Lei horn Jon Yenta tuba
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC Joyce Hinton Cameron McGill Jazel Argente Carl Armstrong Wendy Atkinson Brad Danyluk Kara Gibbs David Humphrey Beng Khoo Flora Lew Glenda Makela Trevor Mangion Claire Mohun Christine Offer George Pereira Andrew Riter Nadia Roberts Lyndsey Roberts
Co-Managing Director Co-Managing Director Administrative & Rentals Assistant Events & Customer Service Manager Programming & Rentals Manager Head Audio Technician Marketing & Communications Manager Production Manager Operations Clerk Financial Coordinator Financial & Programming Clerk Ticket Operations Manager Marketing & Communications Coordinator Artistic Presenting Manager Production Clerk Head Lighting Technician Events & Front of House Coordinator Ticket Office Supervisor
Members of Cupe 2950 Front of House, Stage, and Ticketing Staff Megan Barnabe Tessa Cernik Valentina Montilla
Administration Assistant, Work Learn Student Marketing & Communications Assistant, Work Learn Student Artistic Presentations Assistant, Work Learn Student
Administration Office
T: 604.822.9197
E: chan.centre@ubc.ca
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Ticket Office
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Graphic Design by Copilot Design Media Relations by Laura Murray Public Relations
The Chan Centre would like to thank our 2014/2015 series sponsors: The Chan Endowment Fund and the UBC Faculty of Arts
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Upcoming Events at the Chan Centre
Full details at chancentre.com
April 13 at 7:30pm: Sounds of China Presented by the the China Arts and Entertainment Group and the Canada-China Cultural Development Association
Apr 17 at 7:30pm + Apr 19 at 2:30pm: Masque: Turning Point Ensemble Presented by the Turning Point Ensemble in partnership with the Chan Centre as part of the Radius series
Apr 19 at 3pm: Distant Worlds Presented by the Vancouver Orchestra Club Apr 22 at 7:30pm: Yom Ha’atzmaut featuring Micha Biton Presented by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver
Apr 24 at 7:30pm + Apr 25 at 2:30pm: Masque: musica intima Presented by musica intima in partnership with the Chan Centre as part of the Radius series
Apr 24 + 25 at 8pm: VSO – Jeffrey Kahane Presented by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as part of their Classical Traditions series at the Chan Centre
Apr 26 at 7pm: Lila Downs Presented by the Chan Centre May 1 at 8pm: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Presented by Early Music Vancouver as part of their Chan Centre Concert Series
May 7 at 7pm: Earthkeeping: A Climate for Change with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe Presented by Level Ground Trading, hosted by A Rocha Canada and Regent College
May 9 at 8pm: Wu Man and the Shanghai Quartet Presented by the Chan Centre Wu Man and the Shanghai Quartet