Gilberto Gil: Refavela

The album Refavela was born amid the turbulence of the 1970s with the challenge of promoting the rescue of Afro-Brazilian culture. In this book, Maurício Barros de Castro presents the context of the country in the era of military dictatorships, anti-colonial struggles and protests against racial segregation, and tells how Gilberto Gil was inspired by a trip to Nigeria to create one of the most important works of his career. Although it captures a snapshot of the cultural manifestations of its time, the book shows how the issues raised by Gil in Refavela remain current.

“I hear Refavela now and I think that many paths pointed out by Gil in the 1970s remain open. The contemporary relations between Brazil and Africa remain little explored, the black youth culture of Rio remains criminalized, the precarious still articulates artistic processes on both sides of the Atlantic”, says the author

About the artist
Gilberto Gil was born in Salvador, in 1942. He is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, cultural and political producer, known for his musical innovation and Grammy Award Winner, Latin Grammy, awarded by French government with the National Order of Merit (1997). In 1999, he was named “Artist for Peace” by UNESCO.  Gil was also the ONU ambassador for agriculture and food and Brazil’s Minister of Culture (2003-2008). In more than fifty albums released, it incorporates the eclectic range of its influences, including rock, typically Brazilian genres, African music and reggae, for example.

About the author
Maurício Barros de Castro is a writer, researcher, Ph.D. in History from USP, a professor at the Institute of Arts and the Post-Graduate Program in Arts at UERJ. He is the author of Zicartola: politics and samba in the house of Cartola and Dona Zica (2nd ed., 2013) and Estácio: lives and works (2013), with Bernardo Vilhena. Between 2013 and 2014, he traveled through nine African countries to traverse the places of slavery in Africa, an adventure that resulted in the book On the Other Side (2014), with Ana Maria Gonçalves and Cesar Fraga. He also participated in the collection of chronicles O meu lugar (2015), organized by Luiz Antônio Simas and Marcelo Moutinho.

About the collection
Editora Cobogó has been publishing books on music since 2014. In the collection The Book of the Album import records are dissected revealing stories behind the creation of the album, recordings, composing, concerts, production. Each book presents a different great album with a singular perspective written by writers, journalists and music lovers.

Specifications
Collection The Book of the Album
Artist Gilberto Gil
Author Maurício Barros de Castro
Language Portuguese
Page count 112
ISBN 9788555910364
Cover Radiográfico
Format Softcover
Size 13 x 19 cm
Year 2017