Singer and composer Gilberto Gil made available on all digital platforms this Friday (28) the album “São João em Araras – ao Vivo”, a virtual show held in 2020 as a form of homemade celebration of Festa Junina. The presentation has 18 songs in total, where the artist performed with the support of his band. In the track “Eu Só Quero um Xodó”, Gil had the special participation of the singer Preta Gil, one of his daughters.
Vinicius de Moraes was the lyricist for many of Antonio Carlos Jobim's most durable melodies, and his death in 1980 understandably dealt the great Brazilian composer a devastating blow. That he greatly missed de Moraes is quite obvious in this lovingly performed, posthumously released concert, recorded (upon the tenth anniversary of de Moraes' death) at Rio's Centro Cultural do Brasil with just a chamber-sized selection of players from Jobim's band of family and friends. A few well-known pieces are included - there is a very touching rendition of "Insensatez" that makes this often-played tune seem freshly minted - but most of the selections are among the less familiar fruits of the collaboration, along with a few songs that de Moraes wrote with Carlos Lyra and Toquinho…
Years go by and João Gilberto's "studio" albums are becoming increasingly rare. João voz e violão (2000), produced by Caetano Veloso, is officially and to this day the artist's last studio album. I fall back on his Ao Vivo. In 1980 the very good João Gilberto Prado de Oliveira and Live in Montreux (1987) were released. In the 90s and 2000s, several Ao Vivo albums by João Gilberto were released, including the excellent Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar (1995). On stage, João Gilberto is faithful to the precepts of Bossa Nova: acoustic guitar without ostentatious orchestral accompaniment, muffled voice, this slight difference between voice and guitar, fairly short titles.