Home » Jazz Articles » Live Review » Preta Gil: New York, NY, June 16, 2013

2

Preta Gil: New York, NY, June 16, 2013

Preta Gil
Brazilian Film Festival at Central Park Summerstage
New York, NY
June 16, 2013

Backed by a simple four-piece band (drums, guitar, bass, keys), Rio de Janeiro-born Preta Gil took the stage with her "Meu Corpo Quer Voce" ("My Body Wants You"), a hit single for her in Brazil. The audience—mostly formed by expats from her country—quickly caught on and sang along with her.

Probably aware that many of those present would not recognize her current music, Gil filled the set with covers of famous Brazilian songs rearranged to her funky/soul style. Highlights included a re-imagined version of Hegemonia do Samba's "Meu Mundo Se Desfez" and Wando's "Fogo e Paixão."

Gil included various musical styles during the set, including samba-reggae, rock, samba and forró. She acknowledged the music of tropicália-era musicians like Caetano Veloso, Baby do Brasil and her father, Gilberto Gil. She also featured the more recent Axé Music, a rhythm commonly played in the northeast of Brazil during the Carnaval festivities. She kept the energy up by energetically dancing and barely stopping between songs; one of the few pauses came when she acknowledged a group of people who had participated in a peaceful protest against violence in Brazil, in the wake of the violent manifestations that were taking place throughout the country at the time—and also to make a short statement against homophobia.

Forró was also showcased via renditions of Dominguinhos's "Eu Só Quero Um Xodo" and "Esperando na Janela," both hits for Gilberto Gil. She switched gears once again, playing a string of carnaval-themed songs beginning with Portuguese Kuduro and a medley of sambas that ended with full renditions of Jorge Ben Jor's "Taj Mahal," best known to American audiences for Ben's plagiarism lawsuit against Rod Stewart in 1978, and Tim Maia's "Nao Quero Dinheiro."

Not widely known stateside, Gil left a great impression with the audience. Despite performing little of her own new material during the set, the singer took ownership of the covers she performed, always focusing on playing them with a very different flavor. The performance was followed by a screening of Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fure, an animated science fiction feature released this year.

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Near

New York City Concerts

More

Jazz article: Downtown Tacoma Blues And Jazz Festival 2025
Jazz article: Bark Culture At Solar Myth
Jazz article: Hingetown Jazz Festival 2025

Popular

Read Take Five with Pianist Irving Flores
Read Jazz em Agosto 2025
Read Bob Schlesinger at Dazzle
Read SFJAZZ Spring Concerts
Read Sunday Best: A Netflix Documentary
Read Vivian Buczek at Ladies' Jazz Festival

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.