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Born to bossa nova

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'FOR ME MUSIC is an entity that chooses its mediators,' writes bossa nova performer Rosa Passos. 'I'm privileged to be a musician and I want to bring love and peace to the people who listen to my music.'

It's a safe bet that the audience for the sold-out performance at the Cultural Centre will be feeling the love this weekend, as Passos brings the month-long Latin Passion Festival to a close.

The Brazilian singer-guitarist is one of the hottest names in bossa nova, and is touring the world promoting her debut international album, Amorosa. Along the way, she's been heralded as the female Joao Gilberto, one of the creators of bossa nova, which emerged in the late 1950s.

Gilberto was known for the fresh way he drew on the traditions of Brazilian music and offered a restrained, yet captivating, new singing style. Gilberto and the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfa were influenced by the so-called cool jazz records trickling down from the west coast of the US in the late 1950s. They incorporated this style with Brazilian samba rhythms and the result was the sexy and hypnotic pulses of bossa nova.

Passos effortlessly brings new life to the genre, but she says she doesn't want to be categorised. 'I don't consider myself a bossa nova singer,' she says. 'If you need to put a name on what I do, I'm an artist who tries to play first-class Brazilian music - for example, bossa nova, but also bolero, samba, samba-song and, lately, what can be called Brazilian jazz.'

Passos comes from a background submerged in music. Born to music-loving parents in Salvatore in the Brazilian state of Bahia, she learnt the piano as a young girl, then moved to guitar. 'In my teens I listened to Gilberto and discovered that my instrument was the guitar.'

She started to write songs and made her first record in 1979. After a break to raise her family, she returned to the scene in 1985 and has emerged as a star in Brazil. Passos made her US debut in 1986, when cellist Yo-Yo Ma asked her to sing on his Obrigado, Brazil album, which combined some of the country's most exceptional musical artists. She attracted even more attention when she then performed at the Jazz at the Bowl concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

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