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In early 2004, Brazilian singer and composer Caetano Veloso became the first non-classical artist invited by Carnegie Hall to curate its Perspectives series. That granted Veloso, a flagship Nonesuch artist for three decades, free rein to organize a program of concerts at Zankel Hall that explored his ideas and influences, showcased some of his fellow Brazilian performers, and examined his own remarkable history as a soft-spoken revolutionary. His seductive and subversive work as part of Brazil’s late-sixties Tropicalia movement launched a singular career and literally rocked the nation, musically and politically.
Perhaps most eagerly anticipated among Veloso’s Perspectives events was this collaboration with his longtime friend, occasional collaborator and fellow Nonesuch artist, David Bryne. The concert was aired on Natonal Public Radio at the time, and the recording has been sought after ever since. Like Veloso, Bryne is a composer, author, filmmaker, visual artist and all-around iconoclastic thinker, whose own passion for Brazilian music helped to introduce the work of Veloso and his peers to adventurous young pop listeners. Veloso and Byrne shared a deep kinship; as the Village Voice put it at the time, “Side by side, trading leads on ‘(Nothing But) Flowers,’ the quirky Brazilian and the quirky American mirrored one another as if they’d been separated at birth.”
The evening was structured with the same simple elegance as a Veloso tune, emphasizing the way in which the artists’ music, as well as their lives, has crossed paths over the years. The Brazilian legend performed a selection of his own material on acoustic guitar, backed by cellist Jacques Morelenbaum and percussionist Mauro Refosco. Veloso’s Manhata” was followed by the gently romantic Byrne composition, “The Revolution,” which, Byrne revealed, had been inspired in part by “Manhata.” From there, Byrne, backed by Refosco, took over with a sampling of Talking Heads songs, including “And She Was” and “Life During Wartime,” and newer solo pieces that dovetailed beautifully with Veloso’s own work. The pair wound up the night on stage together; as the Hollywood Reporter noted, “Their mutual affection and respect was palpable, and both earned their biggest cheers on the other’s songs.'” The conclusion of the performance, as this recording documents, was nothing short of sublime: Veloso’s “Terra” seguing into Byrne’s “Heaven.”
Caetano Veloso and David Byrne – Live At Carnegie Hall is an essential disc for fans of both artists as well as for anyone interested in the cross currents of alternative pop and world music. Informal and fun in spirit, the concert feels like a lively conversation between two extraordinary friends that we have been privileged to overhear. In their liner notes, the artists admit to a similar sense of awe. As Byrne confesses, “I was incredibly nervous, and I remember having flubbed on a chord or two (some of those remain on this recording, I’m afraid)…but of course it was Caetano, and Carnegie Hall, so I was also incredibly thrilled and flattered.”