REVIEW Gil at Nokia Theatre, NYC (The New York Times)

Saturday March 13, 2010

Complex Colors in Simple Settings
By JON PARELES
Published: March 12, 2010

Gilberto Gil promised a “very simple concert” at the Nokia Theater on Thurday night: just a trio with Mr. Gil and his son Bem Gil on guitars, with his longtime arranger Jaques Morelenbaum on cello.

The simplicity was relative. In a way, Mr. Gilberto was escalating; on his previous American tour, he performed solo. But the scale of the music remained modest and acoustic. The arrangements were lucid, using only stringed instruments until Bem Gil switched to tambourine for the brisk train song “Expresso 2222.” And some of the pleasures were simple: the airy propulsion of the guitars and cello, the supple (and sometimes tricky) melodies and a voice that stayed irrepressibly playful…

Read the entire review at the New York Times Online