Description
Book SynopsisRefazenda connects a remarkable album by one of the 20th and 21st centuries'' great musicians to a dazzling, often unexpected, array of people and places spread across the globe from Brazil to England to Chile to Japan. Critics and fans often project (or impose) desires and interpretations onto Gil that don''t seem to fit. This book explores why familiar political and musical categories so often fall flat and explains why serendipity may instead be the best way to approach this mercurial album and the unrepeatable artist who created it. Based on years of listening to, studying, and teaching about Gil, and the author''s own encounters with the album around the world, this book argues that
Refazenda does, in fact, contain radical messages, though they rarely appear in the form, shape, or places that we might expect. The book also includes the first English-language translations of the album''s lyrics, never-discussed-before 1970s Japanese liner notes, and a recounting of a
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Notes on Translations 1. Directions to a Serendipitous Encounter 2. Race and Radical Serendipity 3. Cover to Cover (and an Invitation) 4. Elastic, Fractured, Connected Worlds 5. Gil’s Early Work and Influences 6. From Bahia to London and Back 7. "Returning to the Depths of History" 8. Thirsty but Not Quite Alone 9. The Avocado Tree 10. "This Is to Be Played on the Radio" 11. The Tour, the Critics, the Censor 12. The End? Song Lyrics
Notes Bibliography Index
