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L i v e a tC a r n e g i e
H a l l
C a e t a n o
V e l o s oa n dD a v i d
B y r n e
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When I got the invitation to curate a program for Carnegie Halls Perspec-
tives series, I brought from Brazil the band Afroreggae, the then-new female
samba genius Mart'nlia, and the unique Virginia Rodrigues. The one
American artist I was sure I wanted to invite was David Byrne. I met David
in the 1980s, at a film festival in Rio, when he and I were presenting our first
feature films; we met as filmmakers. But music was our business, and David
impressed me by showing a very lively ear to whatever was on Brazilian radio.
From our first conversation I noticed David was the first rock musician who
could really feel the essence of Brazilian music. He was open to enjoying
the savvy within the nave, and vice versa, to understand what Brazilians can
make with their repertoire of styles drawn from Global music. Global, as
everybody knows, means basically American: whatever the world can make
of the trends that started in the USA. David was capable of grasping not
just the ways a given people can mix their own traditions with an American-
Global idiom, but the reinventions that a provincial perspective can generate
even when departing from the mere desire to imitate. He could see creation
beyond the exotic and beyond the rejection of the exotic. I immediately saw
this fresh curiosity would lead him to things that are dear to me even the
difficult aspects of the work done by my closest colleagues in the 1960s.
He opened the worlds ears to Tom Zs boldest developments of our experi-
mental drive. And, before that, he gave the world a glimpse of the environ-
ment where such things could be conceived, releasing through his label a
sample of Brazilian oddities. This was the man whose work I had loved since
I first heard Talking Heads. Back then, even his brusque stage moves inspired
my writing. Seeing Stop Making Sensein the movie house was a deeply aes-
thetic experience. Seeing the subsequent concerts he did under his own name
confirmed his exquisite taste. For years I have been sure that David is the
most chic of all rockers. His liner notes for the Stop Making Senselive album
read like Gertrude Stein (I told him so when we met, and he laughed). David
is younger than I am, but he is American, and so I knew about his work well
before he knew about mine. So, when I had to go on stage with him, I was
not nervous, but I was very shy. Youve got to be Brazilian (or something of
the like) to know how awesome (I mean AWEsome) it is to sing side by side
with David Byrne.
Caetano Veloso
2012
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In Mr. Carnegies Hall
For a number of years, Carnegie Hall has been doing a series program called
Perspectives in which an artist is chosen to be Carnegie Halls in-residence
performer. When chosen, the artist can invite along other musicians to join
them as guests. It is an extraordinary series, as the artist chosen is encouraged
to pull from all sorts of genres that inspire and interest them. Kronos Quar-
tet did an adventurous program, but it was Caetano Veloso who was the first
nonclassical artist to be invited to curate one of these programs. I remember,
as part of his program, Virginia Rodrigues did a show at Zankel Hall, and
Caetano asked me to join him for a concert in Stern Auditorium the big hall.
Wed actually done a concert together previously, during the San Sebastian
Film Festival. Despite being in a velodrome (which might have seemed ap-
propriate, for me at least), it worked. The combination of the two of us seemed
to be very unexpected (and pleasantly surprising) for the audience though
it was not for us. Wed been in touch for a while and had even written a song
together. He had recently recorded one of my songs and I had performed one
of his on a tour of mine. So, we knew one anothers work fairly well. The idea
of doing a concert together seemed obvious to us.
Id been a Caetano fan since the late 80s, when Id fallen headlong down the
rabbit hole of Brazilian music. If I had to name some musicians (composer is
the word that is used in Brazil) to whom I would look to as a guide to what
is possible those musicians who have managed to sustain a creative and
interesting life in music Caetano would be among the top few. I wont try
and describe what Caetano does because his work is incredibly varied and not
easy to compare with anyone in North America or Europe. If youre unfamil-
iar with his work you might want to try more than one record, as they can be
very different from one another.
The concert we did was very stripped down and acoustic. Although at other
times I have brought a full band into Carnegie Hall, the acoustics in there
really favor small acoustic ensembles (you almost dont need microphones), so
thats what we went with. Jaques Morelenbaum augmented us on cello and
Mauro Refosco on percussion the arrangements stayed pretty sparse and
minimal in order to better emphasize the songs themselves. I was incredibly
nervous, and I remember having flubbed on a chord or two (some of those
remain on this recording, Im afraid)but of course it was Caetano, and
Carnegie Hall, so I was also incredibly thrilled and flattered.
DB
Western Chelsea
2012
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Produced by Caetano Veloso and David Byrne
Recorded April 17, 2004, at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
Recorded and Mixed by Tom Lazarus
Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME
Design by John Gall
Photography by Chris Lee
Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz
www.nonesuch.com
Nonesuch Records Inc., a Warner Music Group Company, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104.
& 2012 Nonesuch Records Inc. for the United States and WEA International Inc. for the world outside of
the United States and Latin America. Warning: Unauthorized reproduction of this recording is prohibited by
Federal law and subject to criminal prosecution.
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