Gil Luminoso
Encyclopedia
Gil Luminoso is a 2006
album
by Brazil
ian musician Gilberto Gil
, performed using only voice
and acoustic guitar
. It is composed of songs written by Gil from the late 1960s to the 1990s.
and mysticism
and Gil calls it "very religious", though he is an agnostic
.
. Gil composed the song "Cérebro eletrônico" ("Electronic brain") during his imprisonment by the Brazilian military government in 1969.
Top World Albums chart for one week and was nominated for the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album
. Gil promoted the album with a 2007 tour of North America which included a performance at Carnegie Hall
.
Jon Pareles
of The New York Times
described Gil Luminoso as "a lovely album", writing in particular on the philosophical qualities of its lyrics. Washington Post
critic Mike Joyce noted that the album's lyrics "are often as thoughtful as they are poetic" and praised its arrangement
s as well, calling them "alluring and revealing". Writing for Allmusic, Jeff Tamarkin
called the album "one of the most intimate recordings [Gil] has ever made".
2006 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 – Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....
album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian musician Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
, performed using only voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
and acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
. It is composed of songs written by Gil from the late 1960s to the 1990s.
Conception and themes
The idea for the album was conceived of by Bené Fonteles, the album's producer and the author of a book about Gil. It was released with the book, entitled GiLuminoso: a po.ética do ser, in 1999. Fonteles intended for the album to be heavily influenced by spiritualitySpirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
and mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
and Gil calls it "very religious", though he is an agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
.
Compositions
"Preciso aprender a só ser" ("I have to learn how to just be") borrows its lyrics and theme from another song titled "I have to learn how to be alone". Gil says that a specific line in the song, "It's just me with this pain in my chest/Collapsing in tears that I try to hide", is an interpretation of suffering in human life. Julie McCarthy, a critic for National Public Radio, called this "an existential theme" which is often present in his lyrics. Another song featured on the album, "Copo vazio" ("Empty glass"), was written by Gil for famous Brazilian musician Chico BuarqueChico Buarque
Francisco Buarque de Hollanda , popularly known as Chico Buarque , is a singer, guitarist, composer, dramatist, writer and poet...
. Gil composed the song "Cérebro eletrônico" ("Electronic brain") during his imprisonment by the Brazilian military government in 1969.
Reception
The album reached number 15 on the BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top World Albums chart for one week and was nominated for the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists between 2004 and 2011 for quality contemporary world music albums...
. Gil promoted the album with a 2007 tour of North America which included a performance at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
.
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described Gil Luminoso as "a lovely album", writing in particular on the philosophical qualities of its lyrics. Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
critic Mike Joyce noted that the album's lyrics "are often as thoughtful as they are poetic" and praised its arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s as well, calling them "alluring and revealing". Writing for Allmusic, Jeff Tamarkin
Jeff Tamarkin
Jeff Tamarkin is an American editor, author and historian specializing in music and popular culture.-Career:For 15 years Tamarkin was editor of Goldmine, a magazine for record and CD collectors. Prior to that, he served as the first editor of CMJ and as editor of Relix...
called the album "one of the most intimate recordings [Gil] has ever made".
Track listing
- Preciso aprender a só ser – 4:43
- Aqui e agora – 5:47
- Copo vazio – 4:31
- Retiros espirituais – 5:31
- O seu amor – 2:10
- Tempo rei – 5:58
- O som da pessoa – 1:24
- Cérebro eletrônico – 5:16
- A raça humana – 4:26
- Você e você – 3:51
- Super-Homem - a canção – 3:40
- Rebento – 5:35
- Metáfora – 4:14
- Meditação – 1:51
- O compositor me disse – 3:01
Credits
All information taken from album liner notes.- ProducerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
: Bené Fonteles - ArrangementArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s and musical direction: Gilberto Gil - Engineer: Mário Possollo
- MasteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
: Sérgio Murilo - Rehearsal photography: Mario Crovo Neto
- Color photography: Priscila Casaes Franco
- Graphics and printing: Bené Fonteles
- Electronic editing: Arthur Fróes
- Production assistant: Julia Savino