Gilberto Gil
Friday, March 16, 8 pm
Hill Auditorium
| Main Floor | $60 VIP · $44 · $38 · $30 · $20 |
| Mezzanine | $36 · $30 · $10 |
| Balcony | $24 · $20 · $16 · $10 |
Not many government ministers wear their hair in dreadlocks, but not many are also world-renowned music stars like Brazil's Gilberto Gil, who received "Man of the Year" honors at the 2003 Latin Grammy Awards.
Along with Caetano Veloso, guitarist and singer/songwriter Gilberto Gil was a leader in the Tropicalia movement in Brazil in the late 1960s, a response to the military regime’s censorship of songs and lyrics — and its persecution of musicians who were critical of it. Tropicalismo blended native Brazilian folk music such as bossa nova and samba with rock influences, creating what is now commonly referred to as “world music.” This musical fusion was so revolutionary that it frightened the country’s military dictatorship into arresting him and placing Gil (along with Veloso) in solitary confinement.
Exiled to England, he spent three years working with groups like Pink Floyd, Yes, and Rod Stewart’s band before returning to Brazil in 1972. Over the years, his political and environmental activism gained prominence alongside his musical career and reached new heights when he was appointed Brazil’s Minister of Culture in 2002.
With four decades of performing and over five million recordings sold, Gil is a pioneer of the world music movement and continues to play a key role in modernizing Brazilian popular music and culture throughout the world.
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Funded in part by U-M Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art. |