11/15/12

An Artist For Any Year: Honoring Caetano Veloso, 2012 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year

The career of Brazilian singer and songwriter Caetano Veloso is marked by era-defining songs. His music has been part of the soundtrack of the lives of several generations of Latin music fans. Summing it all up in a one-hour show seems an insurmountable challenge.

But helped by a star studded cast including Alejandro Sanz, Juanes, Juan Luis Guerra, Nelly Furtado and Enrique Bunbury, the Latin Recording Academy celebrated Veloso as its 2012 Person of the Year with a rich presentation that showcased and honored many of his remarkable achievements.

Hosted by singer Julieta Venegas, a five-time Latin GRAMMY winner, and Gabriel Abaroa, President and CEO of the Latin Recording Academy, and staged at the vast Arena Garden at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the show combined video, photo collages and live performances. 

It opened with a biographical video that retraced Veloso’s story from his beginnings (“I never intended to be a musician” he says early on) through the turbulent ‘60s in Brazil, Tropicalia, exile and his many reinventions to today, still a challenging songwriter, thinker and performer.

Appropriately, considering the honoree, the participating artists were not content with playing the hits but instead put their own stamp on Veloso’s music.

Latin GRAMMY and GRAMMY winner Nelly Furtado, a Canadian of Portuguese descent, tackled one of Veloso’s classics “Leaozinho,” a song he first recorded in his album Bicho in 1977, but giving it a brisk ska beat. Spanish rocker Enrique Bunbury and Spanish hip hop singer La Mala Rodriguez put an original spin to the classic “Os Argonautas, an epoch making track in Veloso’s so-called Álbum Branco (White Album) which was released in Brazil in 1969. They sang the first half as an old time chanson, before La Mala exploded it with a burst of rap. Also interesting was hearing Spanish singer La Mari (of Chambao) naturally giving “Onde O Rio e Mais Baiano” a flamenco flavor.

Meanwhile Dominican singer, songwriter and producer Juan Luis Guerra, a 17 time Latin GRAMMY and two time GRAMMY winner who this year is up for six awards, performed “Lindeza” in Spanish, his voice floating over a tight, dense samba groove. Colombian singer and songwriter Juanes, a 17 time Latin GRAMMY winner with four nomination in this year’s event, accompanied himself on a nylon string guitar and  backed by a string orchestra sang in Portuguese Veloso’s classic “Sampa,” a love song to the city of São Paulo. And Spanish singer and songwriter Alejandro Sanz interpreted  “Forca Estranha” in Spanish as photos projected on a screen center stage effectively told  Veloso story.

Sanz is one of those artists who by the force of their personality can turn almost any song into a personal statement, easily, almost naturally, perhaps the best tribute from artist to artist.

And there were also nods to Veloso’s interest in the Great Latin American Songbook, something reflected on his albums Fina Estampa (1994) and Fina Estampa Live (1996)Peruvian-born singer and long time Mexican resident Tania Libertad chose “Fina Estampa,” the classic song by the great Peruvian songwriter Chabuca Granda. While Mexican singer and Latin GRAMMY winner Lila Downs, who collaborated with Veloso on the main theme of Julie Taymor’s Frida, offered a spirited version of “Cucurrucu Paloma,” a huapango that Veloso explored in Fina Estampa Live. Her passionate performance and dazzling range got the first standing ovation of the evening.Finally, actress Sonia Braga presented the 2012 Person of the Year Award to Veloso.“It’s too much,” said Veloso quietly, before thanking each of the performers by name.And then the event closed with the honoree taking the stage himself to sing. Interestingly, Veloso went back to his early days, singing “Nao Identificado,” another track from his “White Album.” It is a song about “writing a love song for a flying saucer” a play on words on “disco volador,” a flying disc, a UFO.He would go on to write many love songs since those days – and if the guys on the flying saucers have a heart, they will be playing them long after the echoes of last night show are just a memory.