Gil ao vivo

João Sabino - Gilberto Gil - 1974
Menina Goiaba - Gilberto Gil - 1974

"João Sabino" is the playful warm-up tune off Gilberto Gil's 1974 live album. Though not as dazzling or as groundbreaking as some of his earlier recordings, Ao Vivo 1974 is definitely one of my all-time favorites from Gil, and stands as one of my all-time favorite live albums from any musician. At the time Gil gave this concert, he was back in São Paulo after returning from a two-year exile in London imposed by the Brazilian government. Gil was already past his Tropicalia period, but he was still finding ways to experiment with rock, samba, and regional music styles from Brazil.

"Menina Goiaba" mixes rock and frevo, and shows Gil testing his range as a singer. What I like best is how loose and unrehearsed it feels. Sometimes the band has a hard time keeping up with his pace, but there's a great energy and freedom that's undeniable.

I've heard that Gil rarely performs these songs, and I'm not quite sure why. It's a shame...they have great, memorable melodies, and a lot of them are Gil's own compositions (including the two in this post). A few years ago, this album was remastered with some added bonus tracks like "Cibernética," a sambinha that Gil introduces with a funny, rambling story about how he got involved with cybernetics. The CD has been hard for me to track down, but I've been keeping an eye out for it on Dusty Groove. Highly recommend if you can find it for a reasonable price.