Gil Still Gets It

Forty years after his appearance on the collaborative album Tropicália, Gilberto Gil is still able to bring together traditions old and new in his music. Like the idea of blending psychedelic influences with the musical flavors of Brazil in the 60s, he has found, with his new CD Banda Larga Cordel (which translates as Broadband Pamphlet) a way to interweave sonic ideas derived from the street poets of his native northeast with the increased intercommunication brought on by the Internet. “The songs came to me during hotel stays,” Gil said during a recent online press conference. “I had gone through a four-year songwriting hiatus due to my work with the government [he has served as Brazil’s Minister of Culture for 6 years], and after the tunes came together I took advantage of weekends to go into the studio.” Gil says that audiences can expect from his six-piece band an “intense, motivated, and happy show” that will include new material in addition to the expected hits.
Wed., July 2, 7:30 p.m., 2008