It’s difficult to pin down the most beautiful moments on Caetano Veloso’s new album, Meu Coco–which is (depending on how you count) the latest of more than 50 albums he’s released since his solo debut in 1968. One of these exquisite moments certainly hits halfway into the second track, “Ciclâmen do Líbano,” a languid and delicate ballad with an Oriental string arrangement reminiscent of mid-century Egyptian popular music. The unison lines—arranged by Veloso’s cellist, longtime collaborator and music tutor, Jacques Morelenbaum—could be stolen from an Oum Kalthoum performance, and evoke the same kind of mystery.
The cellist makes another two stunning appearances, this time as a soloist, on the stunningly inventive “Não Vou Deixar” or the very catchy, traditional samba, “Sem Samba Não Dá.” Mei Coco is full of these moments.
Originally published at Late Republic Nonsense.