Back after a hiatus, Gilberto Gil brings his familial Nos Á Gente project to The Barbican on Saturday 30th July.

A celebratory affair for which Gil will be joined by family and friends, this rare London show offers something of a ‘greatest hits’ care of the newly octogenarian Gil, for whom the capital holds a special place in his big heart.

Resident in London for three years following deportation by Brazil’s military dictatorship, Gil lived as an exile in London in the early seventies and credits the city for turning him on to reggae and rock.

The album he recorded on his return to Brazil in 1972, Expresso 2222, turns fifty this year which is as good a reason as we need here at Rhythm Passport to revisit this masterpiece of Tropicalia ahead of him touching down in London at the end of the month.

From the opener ‘Pipoca Moderna’ and its psychedelic take on the communalism of samba as played around a table, to the celebratory ‘Back In Bahia’, Expresso 2222 is named in homage to the train Gil took as a youth growing up near Salvador. It is our essential listening ahead of this anticipated Barbican show, which is also likely to include material from Gil’s most recent Latin Grammy winning album Ok Ok Ok.

…and despite his music needs no introductions, we still thought that you might appreciate a quite extensive playlist retracing Gilberto Gil’s 60-year career and featuring some of his classics and more obscure songs