Gal Costa: Minha Voz, Minha Vida 1978-1983 Remastered 2000 CD-New $52.99

One of the major Brazilian singers of the past 30 years and an important interpreter of South American compositions (including those of Antonio Carlos Jobim), Gal Costa has a beautiful voice, a wide expressive range and is quite musical in her choice of notes. This excellent set, which surprisingly does not list the personnel (but does have the lyrics to the 14 songs, in Portuguese) serves as an excellent example of her talents, ranging from swinging jazz to ballads with plenty of bossa-nova rhythms along the way. Well worth acquiring.

Soon after, Costa became a part of the revolutionary musical movement known as Tropicália. And by 1969, Gal was one of the most potent and popular voices in that group, scoring nationwide hits like “Divino, Maravilhoso” and “Não Identificado” while also pushing her sound to the extremes of psychedelic rock. (See the second album she released that year, Gal, for a dose of some of the era’s wildest sound.) As Caetano Veloso put it in his memoir Tropical Truth, Costa’s voice transformed from soft and dulcet to “incorporating vocal sounds that included both Janis Joplin’s grunts and the cries of James Brown.”

Gal Costa (born Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos, 26 September 1945 – 9 November 2022) was a Brazilian singer of popular music. She was a principal figure of the tropicalia music scene in Brazil in the late 1960s and appeared on the acclaimed compilation Tropicália: ou Panis et Circenses (1968).

Video:

Tracklist: Gal Costa – Falsa Baiana 1970

• Credits:
• Arranged By – Eduardo Souto Neto, Gilson Peranzzetta, Lincoln Olivetti, Roupa Nova
• Edited By – Ivan Lins
• Photography By – Antonio Guerreiro
• Producer – Mariozinho Rocha
• Vocals – Gal Costa
• Written-By – Abel Silva (tracks: B2), Antonio Carlos Jobim (tracks: A6), Beti Niemeyer (tracks: B5), Caetano Veloso (tracks: A1, A4, B3, B5), Chico Buarque (tracks: B5), Djavan (tracks: A2), Fausto Nilo (tracks: B1), Fernando Brant (tracks: A5), Francisco Mattoso (tracks: B4), Gilberto Gil (tracks: A3, B5), José Maria De Abreu (tracks: B4), João Donato (tracks: B2), Milton Nascimento (tracks: A5), Moraes Moreira(tracks: B1), Rita Lee (tracks: B5), Roberto De Carvalho (tracks: B5), Waly Salomão (tracks: A3)