''Gil Luminoso'' is a 2006

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian musician

Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Minister of Culture in the administration ...

, performed using only

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

and acoustic guitar. It is composed of songs written by Gil from the late 1960s to the 1990s.Mann, Tracy (2006). In ''Gil Luminoso'' iner notes format United States: DRG Records Incorporated.

Conception and themes

The idea for the album was conceived of by Bené Fonteles, the album's producer and the author of a book about Gil. It was released with the book, entitled ''GiLuminoso: a po.ética do ser'', in 1999. Fonteles intended for the album to be heavily influenced by spirituality and

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...

and Gil calls it "very religious", though he is an agnostic.

Compositions

"Preciso aprender a só ser" ("I have to learn how to just be") borrows its lyrics and theme from another song titled "I have to learn how to be alone". Gil says that a specific line in the song, "It's just me with this pain in my chest/Collapsing in tears that I try to hide", is an interpretation of suffering in human life. Julie McCarthy, a critic for

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, called this "an existential theme" which is often present in his lyrics. Another song featured on the album, "Copo vazio" ("Empty glass"), was written by Gil for famous Brazilian musician

Chico Buarque Francisco Buarque de Hollanda (born 19 June 1944), popularly known simply as Chico Buarque, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer, playwright, writer, and poet. He is best known for his music, which often includes social, economic, ...

. Gil composed the song "Cérebro eletrônico" ("Electronic brain") during his imprisonment by the Brazilian military government in 1969.

Reception

The album reached number 15 on the '' Billboard'' Top World Albums chart for one week and was nominated for the 2008

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists between 2004 and 2011 for quality contemporary world music albums. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and original ...

. Gil promoted the album with a 2007 tour of North America which included a performance at Carnegie Hall.

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described ''Gil Luminoso'' as "a lovely album", writing in particular on the philosophical qualities of its lyrics. ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' critic Mike Joyce noted that the album's lyrics "are often as thoughtful as they are poetic" and praised its arrangements as well, calling them "alluring and revealing". Writing for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Jeff Tamarkin Jeff Tamarkin is an American editor, author and historian specializing in music and popular culture. Career For 15 years Tamarkin was editor of '' Goldmine'', a magazine for record and CD collectors. Prior to that, he served as the first editor o ...

called the album "one of the most intimate recordings ilhas ever made".

Track listing

#Preciso aprender a só ser – 4:43 #Aqui e agora – 5:47 #Copo vazio – 4:31 #Retiros espirituais – 5:31 #O seu amor – 2:10 #Tempo rei – 5:58 #O som da pessoa – 1:24 #Cérebro eletrônico – 5:16 #A raça humana – 4:26 #Você e você – 3:51 #Super-Homem - a canção – 3:40 #Rebento – 5:35 #Metáfora – 4:14 #Meditação – 1:51 #O compositor me disse – 3:01

Credits

All information taken from album liner notes. * Producer: Bené Fonteles * Arrangements and musical direction: Gilberto Gil *Engineer: Mário Possollo * Mastering: Sérgio Murilo *Rehearsal photography: Mario Crovo Neto *Color photography: Priscila Casaes Franco *Graphics and printing: Bené Fonteles *Electronic editing: Arthur Fróes *Production assistant: Julia Savino

References

{{Authority control 2006 albums Gilberto Gil albums