Caetano Veloso

He is a national icon in Brazil. Along with Gilberto Gil, Veloso created the provocative "Tropicalismo" movement which combined the richness of Brazil's musical past with 1960s rock 'n' roll, surrealism, and dada -– in reaction to the military junta in 1964. Veloso and Gil were jailed and exiled for their efforts. Veloso's memoir Tropical Truth a Story of Music & Revolution in Brazil (first published in 1997) is now translated and published in the United States (Knopf).

Brazilian singer/songwriter Caetano Veloso (kah-TAH-no vah-LOW-sah). He's revered as one of the primary architects of "tropicalismo," - a 1960's cultural and musical movement that reevaluated traditional Brazilian music and incorporated non-Brazilian musical styles. Leftist intellectuals denounced his music for it's use of foreign influences. In the late 1960's he was jailed and exiled from Brazil for his participation in the musical movement because the government feared the social force it might have.

Music critic Milo Miles comments on a recent concert he went to featuring Brazilian pop singer Caetano Veloso. He's currently touring in the United States promoting his new album "Livro" on the Nonesuch label.

World music critic Milo Miles surveys the work of Caetano Veloso. Miles says that, of the musician's many albums, each features both knockout songs and slow bores. But that doesn't diminish from his cultural impact -- and ever improving output.