Bebel Gilberto

In Brazil, Bebel Gilberto has been in front of the public’s peepers since her childhood, thanks to the fame of her performer parents, Micha and Joo Gilberto, and she made her recorded debut way back in 1986. In contrast, she was little known here until 2000’s Tanto Tempo, a Latin Grammy nominee whose chill-out production style brought her seductive singing to a wider audience. This happy marriage was consummated again on her self-titled 2004 CD, as well as on Bebel Gilberto Remixed, a recent offering from Six Degrees Records that features the same material as polished by a gaggle of ultra-hip dial-twisters, DJ Spinna, Grant Nelson and Thievery Corporation among them. Remixed works so well because its production approach enhances, rather than reinvents, the preternaturally sultry bossa nova and samba rhythms that form the foundation of Gilberto’s sound. She doesn’t need to use technology as a crutch, which will no doubt come as a relief to those who join her at the Botanic Gardens, where she’ll share the stage with Peter Cincotti. As the latest representative of a musical dynasty, Bebel is ready to show North Americans what South Americans have known for decades.