Pioneering gospel singer and guitar player whose unique singing style and blend of big band and rock influences influenced generations of musicians ranging from Keith Richards to Elvis Presley to Alison Krauss.
Something wonderful happened in Brazil in the late 1960s. Stevie Wonder's soul-funk, Bob Marley's revolutionary reggae, and the smooth bossa nova of Joao Gilberto came together in one person: Brazil's irreplaceable Gilberto Gil.
As a youth raised in rural Bahia, Gil was intoxicated by the bossa