Gilberto Gil, South Africa's "Voice" premiere Viramundo
Gilberto Gil, South Africa's "Voice" premiere Viramundo
By Stephanie Nebehay | Reuters – 10 hours ago
MONTREUX, Switzerland (Reuters) - Brazil's Gilberto Gil showcased joyful African-inspired music despite being tinged with themes of poverty, slavery and painful reconciliation at the Montreux Jazz Festival on Tuesday night. Teaming up with South African folk star Vusi Mahlasela also on guitar, Gil's "Viramundo" concert offered a sneak preview of an upcoming documentary on his road trip rich in cross-cultural collaboration.
South African Paul Hanmer was on piano, along with Brazilians Gustavo Di Dalva on drums and guitarist Sergio Chiavazzoli, for the nearly two-hour set in Miles Davis Hall, which was backed by a Swiss orchestra, the Lausanne Sinfonietta.
"We are Africans in Brazil, especially when it comes to music. We are very African already in Brazil," Gil told Reuters in an interview in the chalet of festival founder Claude Nobs hours before the show.
"What we sing about, our subjects, we have lots of things in common like the apartheid situation, hunger, poverty, submission, humiliation and exploitation - all of that. The black slaves in Brazil went through the same thing that tribes had to go through when they worked in the gold mines in South Africa."
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http://uk.news.yahoo.com/gilberto-gil-south-africas-voice-premiere-viramundo-215204911.html
