Recorded in September, 1995 at studio Nas Nuvens in Rio de Janeiro by Márcio Gama.

Mixed by Luis Paulo Serafim and Rodolfo Stroeter at Mosh Estúdios in Sao Paulo in October, 1995

In September 1995, Gilberto Gil received an invitation to create the score for “Z”, a ballet to honor Zumbi, leader of the Palmares Quilombo on the 300th anniversary of his death. The invitation came from the director of the São Paulo City Ballet at the time, Ivonice Satie, who had also asked the Senegalese Germaine Acogny to choreograph the work. Then Gil brought me in to undertake the musical direction of the performance as well as take part in the music creation.

I was very impressed by Germaine. A tall and very active woman, of indefinite age, of a certainty in the creation, and of a very original expressive force. We traveled to Rio for a single meeting with Gil, since she soon would return to Senegal and would only be back in Brazil to meet with the São Paulo City Ballet, after the music had already been recorded. We talked for about two hours about our ideas and the script.

Having drawn a music plan, me and Gil followed our intuition and invited Carlinhos Brown and Marlui Miranda to join the project. Then, with everything defined, we were ready for recording.

Gil had developed short musical motifs, which he recorded in his house. This material was then expanded in form and length of time to target Germaine’s requirements. During four recording sessions, the music was completely created and arranged by Gil, Brown, me, the keyboardist and friend Lelo Nazario, the percussionist Gustavo di Dalva, and the flutist Lucas Santana.

In this CD, Gilberto Gil curiously performs as a vocalizer, making onomatopoeic sounds that are intuitively shaped in line with scenes. Voices that personify mysterious chants, weeps, howls, shouts, and improvisations join the music’s rhythm, masterfully created by Brown in a sometimes lyrical, sometimes warlike atmosphere. Embodied by the mysterious figure of Zumbi, Gil acts as the great liberator.

“Z” was never planned to be released on CD, but originally conceived and developed around the idea of the dancing body which would be dressed by music. Its artisic freedom in creation reflects Brazil’s immense musical diversity. Moreover, with its diverse textures, it reaffirms Brazil's strong African identity, and suggests new paths to be followed.

Those paths remember us that integrating the arts is possible, healthy and, above all, necessary.

Rodolfo Stroeter