Brazilian singer, Caetano Veloso, returns to Lisbon on October 24, to perform at the Atlantic Pavilion, backed by the Lisbon Symphony Orchestra. Unlike his previous work – mostly sung in Brazilian – the world-famous legend will perform an English-American repertoire, entitled A Foreign Sound, which he had initially planned over 30 years ago!
The idea was originally thought of between 1969 and 1972, when the singer was working and living in London. “I’d been talking with friends about doing a recording in Brazil, based on English and American material, but it didn’t materialise,” explains Veloso. “Then, I forgot about the idea until my colleague, Bob Herwitz, said I should go ahead with the shelved project, as I was the only person in the world capable of recording Cole Porter and Bob Dylan on the same CD.”
Returning to Brazil, the singer thought about his friend’s words and some of his own personal favourite songs from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and even post rock ‘n’ roll. The result is an unusual record for a Brazilian to sing, and one which explores not only the great American songbook, but also more contemporary rock classics, which have been a bench-mark for mass music in the 20th century. The record will, no doubt, expose this great singer to yet wider audiences, because, as he says, “music sung in English carries so much more weight in the world than Spanish or Portuguese”.
The CD, A Foreign Sound, is available from the usual retail outlets. Concert tickets are available for between 25 and 60 euros from Fnac or by phoning the ticketline on 210 036 300 and through Multibanco.
