Gilberto Gil & Amigos: Refavela 40

Forty years after the release of his visionary album Refavela, Gilberto Gil is bringing tropicália to Berlin! He will perform together with singer Mayra Andrade, percussionist Domenico Lancellotti and an international ensemble of musicians on the roof terrace of HKW.

In the 1960s, Gilberto Gil combined bossa nova with rock ‘n’ roll rhythms like no other. Along with Caetano Veloso, he thus became a pioneer of tropicália. Their critical lyrics were a thorn in the side of the military government, leading to their detention and eventually to their exile to London. After the end of the military dictatorship in 1985, Gil became more politically engaged, and was even appointed Brazil’s Minister of Culture under former President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva in 2002. With Refavela 40, Gil – one of the most successful musicians in South America today – puts another style-defining album of his career on the stage again. Produced in 1977 after his experiences in exile in London and a trip to Nigeria, in Refavela afro-Brazilian influences merge with funk, reggae and Afrobeat. Now, with family members, friends and colleagues, Gil is celebrating the album’s fortieth anniversary, joined by, among others, the singer Mayra Andrade, who enchanted the HKW audience with son, bossa nova, and Cape Verdean melodies at Wassermusik Lusofonia in 2014.