What Caetano Veloso Listens To

I mentioned earlier in the week having gone to hear Caetano Veloso's Toronto debut -- incredible that the 65-year-old Veloso should not have played the city before now, given he, along with Gilberto Gil, are arguably the most famous Brazilian musicians in the world. (Maybe Milton Nascimento and all the Gilbertos should be added to that shortlist.)

Veloso, if you aren't familiar with his significance in Brazilian music, was one of the leaders of tropicalismo, which merged rock with modernist art, theatre, and Brazilian music styles, forever changing not only Brazilian music, but a lot of North American music as well -- influencing people like David Byrne, for example. And Veloso and Gil were perceived as such symbols (and threats) that they were jailed and sent into exile -- this was in the late 1960s.

Anyway, the concert was pretty remarkable (the review I did for the Globe and Mail will give you a partial perspective -- there were about a million things one could write about). And because Veloso is touring, (and recently won two Latin Grammys) there are various things popping up about him right now, including this piece on Spinner.com, where Veloso lists which recordings are most important to him -- and why.

Also, in a response to my earlier post about Gilberto Gil's health (and I'm sorry to say I have no update at present), R2 blog-reader Mike Lewis wrote in with his own memories of having interviewed Caetano Veloso about a decade ago -- he recalls Veloso as being just the way he comes across on stage, "intelligent, funny and very friendly."

And he kept a recording or a transcript, which included this comment by Veloso on Michael Jackson and Madonna: "Michael Jackson is inevitable. He's fatal. She's a construction."

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