São Paulo – Brazilian singer and songwriter Caetano Veloso will perform at the port of the city of Byblos, in Lebanon, on Wednesday (14th). The Brazilian popular music icon‘s concert will be part of the programme of the Byblos International Festival, held annually in the Arab country to entertain the tourists visiting Lebanon in the summer. Byblos is located approximately 40 kilometres north of the country’s capital Beirut.
The port that hosts the festival, which began on July 1st, is a historic site and was an important trade hub for the Phoenicians in the past. The audience watches the concert from benches hanging over the sea. According to information supplied by the festival’s organizers, Caetano Veloso’s concert is one of the Byblos International Festival’s most sought-after.
The festival’s site features a short clip of Caetano and a text by a The New York Times music critic. “Caetano Veloso is one of the greatest songwriters of the century, a master melodist, a lyricist who merges surreal imagery with a sense of history and a sense of humor, a graceful singer whose voice radiates tenderness,” according to the text by Jon Pareles.
Bahia native Caetano was influenced by bossa nova music and by João Gilberto, another Brazilian singer and songwriter. Caetano started his career in 1967 and was the creator of Tropicalismo, an avant-garde movement that combined Brazilian popular music and rock and roll. In the 1980s, he also became popular outside Brazil. The singer’s latest album, Zii Zie, was released in 2009. The concert in Byblos will take place at 08:00 pm (Beirut time).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
