Latin American music comprises a broad spectrum of styles and is popular throughout almost the entire world. Resilient master Gilberto Gil, born in 1942, is one of its most influential characters, using the socially critical style of protest songs from Europe and North America to gain attention for injustice in Brazil. During the military dictatorship he was forced to spend two years abroad. He entered politics early, without distracting from his professional music career, but when in 2003 he was called upon by President Lula to become minister for culture, he hung up his guitar. Since 2008, he has been able to concentrate completely on music again. But at an age when others go into retirement, he travels throughout Brazil to find out whether his projects have been successful, and he visits musicians in Australia, South Africa and Brazil to make music with them and to experience the power music has in resisting oppression.

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