Brazilian music stars Sergio Mendes and Bebel Gilberto will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Bossa Nova Wednesday night at the Mondavi Center in Davis. Gilberto is the daughter of Joao Gilberto, who was a pioneer of Bossa Nova.

"I grew up listening to the music that my father created," Gilberto said.

That was in the late 60’s when bossa nova was in full bloom and in Bebel’s DNA.  But she forged her own musical path. 

"And then you just want to make that sound differently because you’re living in a different time and you just want to reinvent yourself and reinvent the music," she said.

Bebel’s music was contemporary but still appealed to her father’s fans, who attended her shows.  Then a funny thing happened. Producers started remixing her albums with great success.

"But then their kids started listening to my music through the remixes.  So in many situations I had a whole family coming to see me," Gilberto said.  "I never used my father’s way of singing to become famous. I could just repeat what he did.  Instead I put it on my own and only now accepted to do this bossa nova celebration.

The celebration will be bittersweet for Gilberto, who lost her famous father earlier this year.

Bebel Gilberto and Sergio Mendes perform Wednesday at the Mondavi Center at UC Davis.