Caetano Veloso
Livro

THE REVIEW

Artists like Caetano Veloso are born once every ten years, or perhaps even less frequently.

An absolutely charismatic figure in Brazilian music and culture, intellectual and all-round artist, Caetano has the rare quality of combining an irresistible communicative verve with total and unconditional openness and a free-spirited mindset, traits that make him loved and idolized both in his country and abroad.

This great humanity, combined with an entirely positive attitude towards the world around him and music, allows him to compose songs that blend an almost naïve sweetness with a desire to experiment and explore new paths. His repertoire respects his country's vast musical tradition, which he draws from abundantly, but combines it in an unprecedented and far from reverential way, juxtaposing sweet and enchanting pieces with experiments with the most infamous noisicians like Arto Lindsay.

In almost forty years of activity, Caetano has released numerous works, and his career has gone through different phases. I chose to review "Livro", from 1997, because in my opinion, it represents the pinnacle of collaboration with another musician I highly admire: the cellist Jacques Morelenbaum, the eminence grise of the most advanced and innovative Brazilian music, and former collaborator of Egberto Gismonti and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

The imaginative and colorful arrangements, often heavily percussive, create a perfect showcase for our artist's caressing and hypnotic voice. Unforgettable melodies shine like jewels set in this magnificent soundscape. The aromas and suggestions the music releases are manifold, with bossa nova rightly taking the lead. There is a significant African influence, as is often the case with Veloso's records, who loves to call on more or less illustrious colleagues: this album features the participation of his sister Maria Bethânia and Carlinhos Brown in the protest song "O Navio Negreiro", while his son Moreno offers a charming vocal cameo in "How Beautiful Could A Being Be".

"Alexandre" is an extremely joyous burst of wind and brass, a song that candidly recounts the story of Alexander the Great, including his "gayness"... The almost "orchestral" use of percussion is clearly audible in tracks like "Os Passistas" and "Onde O Rio É Mais Baiano". "Manhatã" is absolutely captivating in its magical progression; "Não Enche" is a little prank that makes you want to dance but is animated by a corrosive text in the purest "Caetano style".

There is also room for experimentation in "Doideca", a fun attempt to coexist Samba and Dodecaphony (!). Then, the inevitable homage to the masters of the past, with "Na Baixa Do Sapateiro" by Ary Barroso.

In short, once again, Caetano Veloso performs the miracle of projecting Brazil's music into the twenty-first century, without losing even half a gram of its glorious and magnificent past.