Caetano Veloso and his Banda Cê performed at the Barbican Hall earlier this week as part of Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records, the Barbican's month-long celebration of the label's 50th anniversary. The concert, featuring songs from his new album, Abraçaço, released earlier this spring in North America on Nonesuch Records, earned five stars across the board from the Times of London and Guardian, both of which call it a "masterclass," and The Arts Desk as well.

"[T]he Brazilian master has lost none of his desire to push forward into unexplored territory," writes Times reviewer Clive Davis. "Working at a rate that would put most Anglo-American grandees to shame, he has now released three albums with the young samba-rock trio [Banda Cê] led by that extraordinarily supple electric guitarist, Pedro Sá."

Davis goes on to say of the Barbican performance: "Each piece, earthy yet sophisticated, was delivered with the precision you associate with a pack of jazz virtuosi but without succumbing to self-indulgence ... That such a compact group could produce so many subtle tonal variations was little short of miraculous." It was, he concludes, "a perfect evening."

Times subscribers can read the full review at thetimes.co.uk.

"Caetano Veloso may be one of the legends of the Brazilian music scene," writes the Guardian's Robin Denselow in his five-star review, "but here he refused to rely on past achievements, instead presenting an exquisite and sometimes startling masterclass on how a great veteran can keep moving on."

"Caetano Veloso gets more extraordinary," raves The Arts Desk's James Woodall in his five-star review. "He seems to have got younger. He sounds exactly like he did over four and a half decades ago, when he exploded with Gilberto Gil into Brazilian music with, for the time, a shocking thing called Tropicalismo."

At this week's concert, Veloso "won everyone over, hands down," says Woodall. Referencing the upcoming World Cup in Brazil, he concludes: "And however clever the action woven by his country’s team on green pitches next month, it will surely pale beside this true Brazilian superstar’s elegance, ingenuity—and astounding youthfulness."

Caetano Veloso comes to the United States to tour this fall, including already announced dates in September at the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach and Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles (with Devendra Banhart and Andrew Bird), plus two nights at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, as part of BAM's own celebration of Nonesuch Records at 50. For details and tickets, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.

To pick up a copy of Abraçaço in North America, head to iTunes or the Nonesuch Store.