IF TALENT is transmitted genetically, it's no wonder that Brazilian singer Bebel Gilberto is so gifted.
Bebel, who plays a concert with Simply Red at Beaulieu on July 27, is the daughter of Jo£o Gilberto, the man who virtually invented the Bossa Nova along with Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Her mother Micha is also one of Brazil's most popular singers so it's no surprise that a career in music was to be Bebel's destiny.
"I was surrounded by beautiful sounds from the cradle onwards," says Bebel, "whether it was listening to my father or harmonising with my mother while I sat on her lap. My mother deserves all the credit, because she was very important for me, in terms of learning how to sing."
Bebel became a force to be reckoned with on the Brazilian music scene at an early age. Indeed her first public appearance was suitably precocious - a concert at Carnegie Hall with her mother and Stan Getz when she was nine years old.
In 1991, Bebel Gilberto left her home in Rio de Janeiro and returned to her birthplace, New York, where she began working with artists like David Byrne of Talking Heads to bring the Brazilian sound to the metropolis's dance floors.
Bebel, right, later released her first studio album Tanto Tempo, which translates to So Long - apt because it took Bebel ten years to complete.
It redefined the Bossa Nova genre and helped make Bebel an international star who has since toured all over the world.
She arrives at Palace House, Beaulieu (or Bewley Hall as she calls it on her website) for the concert with Simply Red on Sunday, July 27 immediately after appearing at Nice Jazz Festival in France.
For tickets and more information call 08700 600 100.
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