Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto

Bebel Gilberto is a Brazilian singer and songwriter associated with bossa nova, jazz, latin pop, pop and samba. She is born Isabel Gilberto de Oliveira in 1966 and is based in the Brazilian popular music tradition, with a career that begins in childhood and develops across Brazil, the United States and the UK.

Early life and family

She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha, and the niece of singer and composer Chico Buarque. She begins performing while still young in Rio de Janeiro. At seven, she appears on her mother’s first solo album, Miúcha. At nine, she performs with her mother and jazz saxophonist Stan Getz at a jazz festival at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Work in Brazil

After returning to Brazil, Gilberto performs and records for the soundtrack of the children’s musical Os Saltimbancos, written by Sergio Bardotti and Chico Buarque. She later joins an experimental theatrical group and is part of the founding team behind Circo Voador, the performance space at Ipanema Beach. Through this circle she meets singer and songwriter Cazuza, who becomes a close friend.

Collaborations in the 1990s

During the 1990s, Gilberto works with a wide range of artists, including Arto Lindsay, Thievery Corporation, David Byrne, Towa Tei, Caetano Veloso and Chico Buarque. In 1996, she appears in the AIDS charity project Red Hot + Rio, produced by her collaborator Béco Dranoff. In the same period, she has international dance hits with “Technova” and “Batucada”, both made with Towa Tei and Arto Lindsay. She also appears on the soundtrack of Brad Anderson’s Next Stop Wonderland with Vinicius Cantuária and Mauro Refosco.

International albums

Gilberto moves to London in the late 1990s and begins developing the sound heard on her debut album, Tanto Tempo. While there, she meets the Serbian producer Suba, who writes and produces several tracks on the record. She also works with Amon Tobin, Arling & Cameron and Nina Miranda. Tanto Tempo is released in 2000 on Ziriguiboom, the Crammed Discs sub-label, sells over one million copies worldwide and is nominated for two Latin Grammy Awards.

Her second album, Bebel Gilberto, is released in 2004, wins a MOBO Award in the UK and receives a World Music Grammy nomination. She begins writing and producing material for her third album, Momento, in 2006. That album is released in 2007 and includes collaborations with producer Guy Sigsworth, Didi Gutman, Sabina Sciubba of Brazilian Girls and the Rio-based Orquestra Imperial. Her album All In One is released in 2009 on the jazz label Verve.