Brazilian legend Caetano Veloso kicks off his American tour

Miami will breathe higher art with the performance of Brazilian legend Caetano Veloso. He will open his American tour “Abraçaço” with a concert at the Fillmore in Miami Beach on Sept. 13.

Veloso has an artistic trajectory few in the entire world can emulate. His artistic pedigree and resume say it all.

Although he is mainly known for his unique voice and style, Veloso is a songwriter, poet and filmmaker. He appeared in Pedro Almodobar’s “Talk to Her” and his music is included in other six movies.

He was a spear tip in a vanguard movement called “Tropicalia” that extended to all forms of arts in the Brazil of the 60’s.

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Under the censorship of military dictatorship, Brazilian music turned very conservative at that time. But, Veloso and his fellow artists of the movement absorbed contemporary waves like Pop and Rock and fused them with Bossa Nova, Samba, and other Brazilian rhythms loaded with incendiary lyrics against the regime.

He was once arrested for giving a rebellious speech in one of his concerts to be later exiled to England for two years.

The 72 years old artist dropped out of college in the early sixties to join his sister [and also Brazilian music icon] Maria Bethånia to perform small gigs in their hometown Bahia. That was the beginning of a stellar music career that has been paced by 34 studio albums and 17 live. Veloso has also won a total of nine Latin Grammy and two Grammy awards.

Music from his early career entangles with his latest songs to present “Abraçaço”. The Banda Cê accompanies Veloso in this show, which has already received compliments from important music critics. The Times called it “A perfect evening” while The Guardian said “Exquisite.”

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“Abraçaço”, which was co-produced by his son Moreno Veloso, was released in US in March this year with a two-years delay, winning two Latin Grammies in 2012.

The artist will perform in Seattle, Davis, Oakland, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn, NY. The tour kicks off in Miami next Saturday and concludes with a couple of presentations in Brooklyn on the 25 and 26 of this month.

But, there is a reason why Veloso chose Miami to start the promotion tour. “It’s closer. Geographically and culturally, there are so many Brazilians and Latin Americans living there. It has the feeling of Northeastern Brazil, and the seawater is the temperature of Bahia, not ice-cold as in Rio or LA,” he said in an interview.