The samba-inspired album’s title is an Italian phrase for “uncles and aunts” that the singer/songwriter liked for the way it looks and sounds, and selected “because of the freedom of the mysterious choice.” Veloso returns to the United States in April for six performances, including dates in New York City and Los Angeles (complete dates below).
On Zii E Zie, which was produced by Pedro Sa and Caetano’s son Moreno Veloso, the singer is joined by the same youthful trio he employed on 2007’s Ce, an album of rock-oriented tracks. “We are people of different generations sharing similar musical and human interests,” Veloso says.
For Zii E Zie, Veloso reverses the equation. Here, samba is the foundation, filtered through a rock sensibility. Veloso calls this approach ‘transamba’, “as if it were samba transcending itself,” he said in an interview. His subject matter, as always, can be intensely personal, but he also takes a broader view of the world at large.
As Veloso says of the lyrics, “Mostly they focus on Rio. But even there, they go from the favelas to Leblon, from Lapa to the beach, from Chico Alves to Los Hermanos, from its typical anonymous characters to its atypical celebrities. But they look further still: to Guantanamo, to the caverns in Afghanistan, to Washington, DC.”
Tour Dates
Thursday, April 8
Terminal 5, New York, NY
Saturday, April 10
Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University, Washington, DC
Monday, April 12
Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA
Thursday, April 15
The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, April 17
Nob Hill Masonic Center, San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, April 20
The Fillmore at the Jackie Gleason Theatre, Miami Beach, FL
Buy Zii E Zie
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
