Search - Gilberto Gil, Jorge Ben :: Gil & Jorge

Controversial, if anything...

Salty Saltillo | from the road, USA | 03/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Reading the reviews it is clear that one either loves or hates this disc. As a rational, sane judge of all things good, I obviously fall on the side of those who find this record to be brilliant. I read somewhere (maybe on the liner notes) that this record was recorded in 12 hours. As a jam session it is one of a kind for a couple of reasons. First, the playing is good. On a few tracks it is great. Somehow, in the 21st century, people have become so used to hearing records that have been over-produced and tweaked at the sound boards (Even Kiss' famous Alive record was "enhanced" in the studio after recording)that they forget what real live human beings playing real instruments in real time sounds like. Of course you get screw ups. But even the greatest musicians playing and conducting in the greatest symphonies in the world, performing the most difficult music in the world, are bound to play imperfectly, either too flat, or with too much passion, or with the wrong passion, or too technically, or not technically enough. This record is not a technically perfect record. But it has passion, feeling, and is a lot of fun.



there is one thing that is very quirky about this record that you can hear if you pay attention to it. Apparently Jorge Ben was in a very different mood from Gilberto Gil that day and each had a very different idea about what they wanted the recordings to sound like, and so that tension runs through every song. In the same year this record was recorded, Paulo Leminski published "Catatau", one of the most difficult, obscure books ever written in the Portuguese language. In "Catatau" there is a character named "Occam" who, although a reference to Ockham, is according to Leminski's notes derived from Afro Brazilian mythology also (maybe Ogum?): he is the monster of the irrational that disrupts and disturbs order and expectations. For me, Gilberto Gil on this record is Occam. Jorge Ben plays very tame, in tune, very orderly, and Gilberto Gil goes absolutely insane, doing everything he can to disrupt the order and focus that Jorge Ben insists on following, turning lyrics upside down, singing out of tune on purpose, turning his voice into a noise box, making odd sounds in the microphone in imitation of Jorge's guitar strumming, etc.



And as a listener it is wonderful to focus on that tension and musical push-and-shove and see how it plays out in song after song. The struggle between order and chaos reaches its high point in Taj Mahal. I cannot listen to the studio version of taj Mahal from Jorge Ben any more because it sounds so flat and lifeless after hearing the incredible performance on this record. If you thought Jorge Ben's Taj Mahal was a vibrant song before this record, it is odd to realize that Jorge Ben needed Gilberto Gil's obnoxious studio antics to breathe life into the song.



Clearly some listeners approached this record with the wrong frame of mind, or misunderstood much of it, or were simply obtuse enough to be insensitive to the order-disorder games that these two masters of Brazilian 70s pop were playing in the studio the day this record was recorded. For me, this record is golden, a gem now 30 years old and still alive."

5 stars

Matthew Sutton | washington dc | 12/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For two musicians to sit down and record this without intensive practice in one night is incredible. Their synergy must be heard to be believed. It is something of an extended jam--the tracks (most Ben's I believe) often run 10min or more, and they definitely feel expansive: allowing the playing itself to actually dictate the length of the songs. That doesn't bother me to the extent it might bother others who are more accustomed to hearing Gil and Ben's usually concisely written 3-and-half-minute pop-oriented songs.



The sets usually start out loose and a little uncoordinated, slowly getting tighter, until they are both furiously locked in at the finish. If you like Fela you'll appreciate this.



Also some of the greatest bass lines I have ever heard are here. Gil here is great, though his tendency to get Bobby McFerrinesque, endearing to some including myself, will probably alienate many; Ben is simply perfect, providing the grooves."