Saturday, May 03, 2014

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Gal Costa

Artist:Gal Costa
Song:Que Pena
Album:Novo Millennium





Gal Costa has been one of Brazil's most popular singers since the 60s. And she's still going strong today. She has had a long association with the legendary Caetano Veloso. Her cover of Jorge Ben's Que Pena is one of her biggest hits. She was born Maria da Graca Costa Penna Burgos Sept. 26, 1945 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. As a teen she got interested in Bossa Nova and met Caetano Veloso when she was 18 years old. She was introduced by Veloso's future wife and Gal's best friend Andrea Gadelha. She also performed and recorded with Veloso's sister Maria Bethania. Then she met Gilberto Gil and started performing with him. Veloso signed with Philips Records and his 1967 debut album Domingo was a duet album with Gal. She recorded for Philips/PolyGram for many years. Gal's breakthrough album was the 1969 album Gal Costa with guest appearances by Veloso and Gil. Her cover of Jorge Ben's Que Pena would turn out to be one of her biggest hits. This comp CD is a good intro to her music. Though unknown elsewhere, Gal Costa continues to be a musical force in Brazil. She left PolyGram for RCA in 1983 and recorded there for several years. Her long association with Caetano Veloso continues as he wrote and produced Gal's latest CD Recanto which was released in 2011. Here's Gal Costa performing Que Pena on Acustico MTV 1997. This performance is available on DVD.

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