When Maria das Graças Costa Penna Burgos began her journey into music in the 1960s alongside Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Maria Bethânia and Tom Zé she was known as Gracinha. The artistic name Gal Costa only came after many steps by the idea of Guilherme Araújo, producer and entrepreneur responsible for leveraging and consolidating the Tropicália musical movement.
But for singer Caetano Veloso, the nickname didn’t go down well at the time. For him, “Gal” resembled “general” and, when the name exploded, Brazil was in the early years of the military dictatorship. Then, like so many Brazilians, the Bahian ended up revering the name.
Caetano began his career alongside the partnership Gracinha: the two signed together their first studio album: “Domingo”, in 1967. that lost over time.
Who remembers the story is Tom Zé, who also gained the artistic name of Guilherme Araújo and talked to the CNN about the almost 60 years of friendship with Gal Costa. Friend, career partner and even boyfriend of Gal for a while, Tom Zé describes Maria da Graça like few others.
“That presence that you say: there is the cousin of the muses, a federal institution, a celestial institution, a moon on earth, a full moon”, he says.
Neither Gal nor the public knew that the performance at the Memorial da América Latina, in São Paulo, on September 17 would be the last of his career. She was on tour with the show “As several points of a star” and was part of the lineup of the Coala Festival, an event in São Paulo that praises Brazilian music.
She took the stage and invited musicians Rubel and Tim Bernardes to sing with her in front of the crowd. The farewell was on one of the coldest nights recorded in the city. Gal celebrated the past, balanced the future of Brazilian music and brought warmth to an attentive and strong audience with classics such as “Divino Maravilhoso”, “Baby”, “When you look at her”, “Vapor Barato” and “Um dia de domingo ”, as well as recent tracks such as “Palavras no Corpo”.
Gal Costa’s last album was released last year, titled “Nenhuma Dor”. The album was released 52 years after her first solo: “Gal Costa”, from 1969.
On her first album, Gal showed strength when she gave voice to “Divino Maravilhoso”, composed by her friend Caetano Veloso. The album was released a few months after the Military Dictatorship decreed Institutional Act number 5, which marked the harshest period of the regime, with kidnappings, torture, murders and forced exile of artists.
On the last album, Gal made the general jelly that is characteristic of Tropicália. She invited several different artists to sing on the tracks of “Nenhuma Dor”. Rodrigo Amarante (ex-Los Hermanos), Silva, Criolo, Seu Jorge, Tim Bernardes, Rubel and Zeca Veloso (middle son of his friend Caetano).
Gallery: Velório de Gal Costa takes place at the Assembly of SP with the presence of fans and artists
Source: CNN Brasil
