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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Gilberto Gil-Kaya N'gan Daya (2001)

Gilberto Gil-Kaya N'gan Daya (2001) (NTSC)

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Released 22-Oct-2002

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Music Menu Animation & Audio
Scene Selection Anim & Audio
Seamless Branching-Show+Additional Scenes
Active Subtitle Track-Show+:Links to Additional Scenes
Featurette-Additional Scenes
Featurette-Making Of
Music Video-Kaya N'Gan Daya (Kaya)
Music Video-Is This Love
Music Video-Turn Your Lights Down Low
Web Links
Booklet
Rating Rated E
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 63:13 (Case: 126)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (53:59) Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Lula Buarque de Hollanda
Studio
Distributor

Warner Vision
Starring Gilberto Gil
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $34.95 Music Bob Marley


Video (NTSC) Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Audio dts 5.1 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Not 16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.75:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles Portuguese
Portuguese
English
Portuguese
Portuguese
English
Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes, credits over video thumbnails

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    You can't get more "world music" than this - a famous Brazilian singer/songwriter (Gilberto Gil) performing songs by Bob Marley!

    There is something mythological about the life and music of Bob Marley. Robert Nesta Marley was born in 1945 in Nine Mile, Jamaica. He was the first Jamaican artist to achieve international fame and is widely credited for popularising a form of music known as reggae. His popularity transcended many cultures and beliefs, and the impact of his music is felt particularly in Third World countries where his vision of "One World, One Love" and the undercurrent of political repression and metaphysical insights resonate strongly. He died of cancer in 1981.

    Therefore, on reflection, it does not seem strange at all for noted Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil to travel to Jamaica and perform a special concert dedicated to the music of Bob Marley. Gilberto is one of Brazil's foremost musicians, and has been creating music since the mid-60s. Born as Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira in Salvador on 26 June 1942, he was influenced by João Gilberto in the 50s but soon began partnerships with poet-lyricists Capinan and Torquato Neto and worked with Caetano, Gal, Bethânia and Tom Zé.

    Together with Caetano, he was a champion of Brazilian folk-inspired music which became known as Tropicálismo or Tropicália. His political activism and "revolutionary" music led to his arrest by the military dictatorship at that time, and he was exiled into Europe where he met the likes of Pink Floyd and Yes. Later in life he was actually elected into political office as a councilman in his home town of Salvador. Having released over 40 albums, he is now recognised as one of the pioneers of world music through his fusion of pop and rock musical styles with Brazilian rhythms such as samba, salsa and bossa nova. He has toured many countries and built many loyal fans around the world.

    No doubt Gilberto feels a lot of similarities between his own life and music and that of Bob Marley. He sings in a mixture of Portuguese (his native language) and English (the language of Bob's music) - sometimes both languages are used in the same song. The translation of the English lyrics into Portuguese was done by Gilberto himself. Although the disc features extensive scenes in Jamaica, I believe the concert itself was held and filmed in the Directv Hall, São Paulo, in December 2001.

    The accompanying musicians are:

    The music is performed using Brazilian percussion and rhythmic styles, so end up being a mixture of reggae and samba. The fusion of the two styles is quite interesting and makes for worthwhile listening.

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Track Listing

1. Tempo Só (Time Will Tell)
2. Three Little Birds
3. Eleve-se Alto ao Céu (Lively Up You
4. Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Road Block)
5. Buffalo Soldier
6. One Drop
7. Positive Vibration
8. Turn Your Lights Down Low
9. Waiting In Vain
10. Nao Chore Mais (No Woman, No Cry)
11. Extra
12. Kaya N'Gan Daya (Kaya)
13. Nos Barracos Da Cidade (Barracos)
14. Is This Love

Transfer Quality

Video

    This is a widescreen 1.75:1 transfer, but unfortunately it is not 16x9 enhanced. It is also in NTSC. Curiously, the feature has been shot on film rather than video.

    Detail levels are a bit on the soft side, but colour saturation seems to be acceptable. In particular the contrast is "film-like" and does not suffer from the usual saturated highlights common for concerts shot on video.

    I did not really notice any film, video or compression artefacts, which is good, but also to be expected since this is a relatively short and recently made feature.

    Interestingly, a number of subtitle tracks are available (in Portuguese and English), and someone has taken the time to transcribe the lyrics of each song, and in some cases translate them! Since the songs are sung in a combination of Portuguese and English, we get the choice of either Portuguese or English, and also whether we want translations of lyrics/dialogue whenever they are in a language other than your "native" language. There is also an active subtitle track. I must admit, I was impressed that the DVD authors have taken so much trouble to transcribe every line of dialogue and lyric on the disc (including the special features).

    This is a single sided dual layered disc (RSDL). The layer change occurs at 53:59 at the end of Kaya N'Gan Daya (Chapter 12). It results in a momentary pause.

Audio

    There are three audio tracks on this disc: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s), Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s), and dts 5.1 (1536Kb/s).

    The dts 5.1 track is quite pleasant, with all three front channels utilized, and the rear channels used for ambience, audience noises, and percussion. The surround mix is quite subtle, and almost as good as a studio mix.

    The subwoofer is used lightly to support the music.

    I did not notice any issues with audio synchronization.

    The Dolby Digital 5.1 track sound very similar to the dts track, perhaps a little harsher/harder edged compared to the dts (which sounds mellower).

    The Dolby Digital 2.0 track also sounds very good, but perhaps slightly brighter than the 5.1 mixes.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    For a music DVD there is an astonishing amount of extras! Not only that, all the extras are subtitled in Portuguese and English, and many of them come with multiple audio tracks: Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded (192Kb/s), Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s), and a silent dts track.

Menu

    The menu is full frame, but includes animation and background audio. There is a fairly long intro (2:24).

Featurette-Additional Scenes (18:09)

    This mainly features Gilberto Gil and his musicians in the recording studio, as well as dialogue between songs that has been edited out of the feature. You can also view these scenes integrated into the main feature using seamless branching, or as scenes you can branch out from using an active subtitle track (press enter whenever you see an icon of a lion).

Featurette-Kaya N' Jamaica (29:17)

    This is an extended featurette about Gilberto Gil in Jamaica. It features the musicians and crew arriving in Jamaica, in the Tuff Gong recording studio, in Trench Town, Kingston (where Bob Marley grew up) and includes interviews with:

    The featurette is presented in full frame, with three audio tracks: Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded (256Kb/s), Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s), and a silent dts track.

Featurette-Making Of (6:48)

    This is a short "making of" featurette entitled "Kaya Na Filmagem Do Show." It features behind the scenes footage and includes interviews with:

    The featurette is presented in full frame. The featurette ends with a montage of multiple camera angles of a segment from the concert. Although it has three audio tracks, only the first one is active: Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded (192Kb/s). The other two audio tracks (Dolby Digital 2.0 and dts) are silent.

Music Video-Kaya N'Gan Daya (Kaya) (3:17)

    This features Gilberto Gil and his musicians performing in the street. It is presented in full frame video.

Music Video-Is This Love (3:23)

    This seems to be an out-take from the concert, sung in English and presented in 1.75:1.

Music Video-Turn Your Lights Down Low (4:21)

    This also seems to be an out-take from the concert, sung in English and presented in 1.75:1.

Web Links

    This is a list of web sites you can surf to to find out more information about Gilberto Gil, Bob Marley and Warner Music. It is accompanied by a full frame video of a Jamaican surfer and background music.

Booklet

    This is a single sheet of paper folded into two to create a "four" page booklet. It is printed in colour, and includes a short essay by Gilberto Gil, track listing (including composer and copyright credits), dedications, musician and production credits.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Region 1 and 4 version of this disc appear to be identically featured.

Summary

    Kaya N'Gan Daya features selections from a Bob Marley tribute concert featuring Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil doing covers of famous Bob Marley songs in Portuguese and English.

    The video quality is a bit soft but acceptable.

    Audio quality is excellent on all three tracks (Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1, dts 5.1).

    Extras are quite substantial and include a 30-minute featurette of Gilberto Gil and crew in Jamaica.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Christine Tham (read my biography)
Monday, February 17, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPanasonic DVD-RP82, using Component output
DisplaySony VPL-VW11HT LCD Projector, ScreenTechnics 16x9 matte white screen (254cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationDenon AVC-A1SE (upgraded)
SpeakersFront and rears: B&W CDM7NT; centre: B&W CDMCNT; subwoofer: B&W ASW2500

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