There’s great news in the offing this spring for fans of Caetano Veloso. One of MPB’s most iconic figures will be releasing his latest album, “Zii e Zie” (roughly translated to “Uncles and Aunts”) at a date in April that has not yet been announced.

“I chose the name because of the beautiful and strange impression that those simple words, ‘zii’ and ‘zie,’ cause when they’re written together,” Veloso told the Rio de Janeiro daily O Globo’s online edition.

The idea for the album came from an Italian translation of “Istanbul,” a book by Turkish Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, which Veloso read in Turkey after it was given to him by a female Italian fan.

Veloso said that the work on the album is similar to that on his most recent 2007 album  “Ce,” which had a rock style and had the backing of his friend, former Talking Heads singer and MPB backer David Byrne.

Veloso’s fellow Tropicalism pioneer Gilberto Gil is managing to keep himself fairly busy on the international stage these days, despite no longer being Brazil’s Minister of Culture.

‘Area Code for Milan, Por Favor’

From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil’s Minister of Culture in the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In November 2007, Gil announced his intention to resign from his post due to problems with his vocal cords. Lula rejected Gil’s first two attempts to resign, but accepted another request in July 2008. Lula said on this occasion that Gil was “going back to being a great artist, going back to giving priority to what is most important” to him. Then to the shock of many Brazilians, Gil announced that he would become a Italian citizen, through his fourth wife. The act remains controversial in Brazil, in keeping with Gil’s personal and public decisions in the recent past, regarding politics, drugs, religion and by suggesting radical change in Brazil’s music industry, from which he has benefited greatly.

Gil is scheduled to participate in a star-studded event March 25 at the United Nations General Assembly Hall to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. As part of the evening, musician and philanthropist Peter Buffett, and R&B/pop star Akon will debut their slavery-inspired song, “Blood Into Gold.” 

Others scheduled to appear include actor Danny Glover, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Salif Keita and the Marley Brothers. Nelson Mandela and Muhammud Ali will also deliver pre-taped speeches.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Gil was slated to be in Washington D.C. along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and Paul Rusesabagina, the inspiration for the movie “Hotel Rwanda.” The event was the inauguration of the Americas Business Council, a nonprofit forum to promote business and human rights, at the Inter-American Development Bank.