Bonus Beats: Dub in Remix On June 30, 2008 I went to see Gilberto Gil at the 4th and B nightclub, in San Diego. I knew that Gil is currently Brazil?s Minister of Culture. I had learned about his current position because of an article in the New York Times, which discussed Gil?s innovative approach to improving youth culture in Brazil. He has adopted elements of hip hop culture as a means to educate disadvantaged youth about their potential creativity, and help them envision education as a means to a better life.40 Based on this article from 2007, I was under the impression that Gilberto Gil was not performing regularly anymore. But he apparently is able to find the time to promote his own music, while also doing his job as the minister of culture. His concert is full of anecdotes about the development of the different styles of music in Brazil. It is a combination of history and spectacle. Gil delivers an impressive mix of bossa nova, samba and reggae. Throughout the evening he performed some original tracks, as well as three well-known covers. The first was ?Three Little Birds? by Bob Marley, the second was ?Girl from Ipanema? by Antonio Carlos Jobim, and the third was ?Something? by the Beatles. All three had a twist to them. ?Three Little Birds? was played with a bossa nova feel, while ?Girl from Ipanema? was played in the style of Reggae, and ?Something? was an unexpected mix of both, Brazilian and Jamaican music. When I heard ?Girl from Ipanema? in the style of reggae I could not help but notice the bass, and the drumming. I thought, ?This is influenced by dub.? The bass was so over-emphasized that the musicians could just ride it for minutes. The drummer was completely free to improvise, and the percussionist took great liberty as well, although not enough for people to notice the variations. Then I thought about the bigger picture, and reconsidered the concept of version, which as we have seen is part of the foundation of dub. And I realized that what I was experiencing was the influence of versioning itself. Dick Hebdige echoed in my head: One of the most important words in reggae is ?version.? Sometimes a reggae record is released and literally hundreds of different versions of the same rhythm or melody will follow in its wake. [?] ?Versioning? is at the heart not only of reggae but of all Afro-American and Caribbean musics: jazz, blues, rap, r&b, reggae, calypso, soca, salsa, Afro-Cuban and so on.41 A cover is a type of version. And I was experiencing some amazing covers in the concert; only Gil took it a step further. He twisted the cultural context of the songs: to play ?Three Little Birds? in bossa nova style, ?Girl from Ipanema? in reggae and ?Something? combining both music genres exposes the awareness of Gilberto Gil about the power of music as a form of communication and expression which can become a means to better understand the nuances of cultures, particularly during a time of globalization. These three songs were not just covers, or versions performed for the sheer desire to entertain the audience. These songs, as well as all others he performed were delivered with an understanding of how meaning moves across borders, how it jumps from one context to another, and how for this to happen, it must move through the threshold that often separates people in class, gender and ethnicity. As popular as the songs are throughout the world, they were [re]versioned by Gil. Conceptually, the songs were dubbed; they were subverted to serve Gil?s purpose of showing the liminality of music culture. It becomes quite obvious that Gil is using his position as Minister of Culture to put into practice the philosophy that led him to be a critical performer. Gil has been consciously responsible to his Brazilian culture to the point that he was imprisoned briefly to later be asked to leave the country for England during the sixties.42 The evening was an example of how artists can, if they so desire, touch people beyond the immediate means of their particular art form. Gil is active not only on the stage but in politics. He is a respected administrator who has been noted for his commitment to improving his country?s culture. And he is not afraid to mix it up and remix it, to take from any area that appears innovative, including hip hop culture. While I could cite some of the latest electronic musicians, such as Pole, who are known for developing long repetitive forms of abstract sound clearly influenced by reggae and dub, I find it much more productive to reflect on the practice of an artist like Gil who has proven and keeps proving that one need not only speak or perform for the few, but can also be active politically. Gil cuts across cultural boundaries in a way that few can. Gil and others like him live the philosophy that made dub and its evolution possible. He rides the threshold.43 |
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