Since 1991, Gil Semedo from Rotterdam has been one of the established names in Cape Verdean music. This DVD provides an overview of Gil's career. The DVD consists of a documentary and a collection of the video clips that the singer recorded. The documentary tells the story from the point of view of people close to Gil such as his brother and fellow composer Vado Semedo, drummer Grace Evora and singer
… Dina Medina. It is not a critical story and the interviewees especially emphasize Gil's qualities. Gil himself also speaks and often speaks about himself in the third person ("Gil is a sensitive person"). It is striking that he does not talk about his traumatic accident (he fell out of the window of an apartment building) but that his brother tells that story. Still, this DVD is very entertaining, even though we only see one side of this breed entertainer. The videos show and hear Gil's unique cabo swing: Cape Verdean music mixed with pop, funk and R&B, which, according to the Semedo brothers, could only originate in the Netherlands. (PdK)more
