Divine. Moonlit. Magnificent. Elizeth Cardoso sprung from the stages of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in the 1930s to claim her eternal place as part of the constellation of Popular Brazilian Music.

Discovered aged just 16 by Jacob do Bandolim her career spanned six decades and left an unrivalled musical legacy. In the worlds of both bossa nova and samba Elizeth was head and shoulders above the rest.

She was the first artist to record the suave bossa novas of Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes on 1958's 'Canção do Amor Demais'. And her countless LPs also featured the debuts of samba legends like Nelson Cavaquinho and Paulinho da Viola, whilst Cartola's acclaimed 'Acontece' was penned especially for Elizeth.

She was, in the words of Brazil's revered composer Chico Buarque, "the mother of all singers", inspiring every musical generation that followed.

This month - on the 16th of July - Elizeth, who died of cancer in 1990, would have been 85. To commemorate her birthday, two rising stars of Rio's music scene, the singer Thais Villela and the guitarist Marcel Baden Powell, take to the stage in Botafogo to pay tribute to the 'Divina Dama'.

Marcel Baden Powell had a guitar teacher like no other: the incomparable mestre Baden Powell, his father, a guitarist recognised as one of the world's best.

Following these formidable footsteps Marcel, who began playing aged 9, soon achieved the dexterity, speed and sensitivity visible in his performances in Brazil and overseas.

Aged just 23, the guitarist has already shared the stage with legendary Brazilian divas such as Alcione, Maria Bethânia and, most recently, Leny Andrade, at Rio's Teatro Rival, where he mesmerised the audience with a breathtaking solo rendition of 'Berimbau'.

"For me it is a great honour to pay this tribute to Elizeth," explains Marcel, at his family home in Rio de Janeiro, where some of the most important Brazilian music of last century was composed and performed by artists like Vinicius de Moraes, Tom Jobim and, of course, Elizeth Cardoso.

"The crop of guitarists that played alongside her were best around," he says, "amongst them Rafael Rabello, João de Aquino and Baden Powell. And as if that wasn't enough, she was also the godmother of my brother (Felipe, a pianist currently on tour with the Brazilian rapper Marcelo D2)."

"She was a marvellous singer," recalls Marcel.

On stage alongside Marcel will be another of Rio's most critically acclaimed young performers, Thais Villela. A singer of intense personality, Thais was first introduced to music through the church aged 6.

Since then she has graced the stages of some of the city's most prestigious venues, amongst them Vinicius Bar, Sérgio Porto, Circo Voador, Clube dos Democráticos and the Comuna do Semente where, according to the Jornal do Brasil writer, Paulo Celso Pereira, she "makes up Lapa's team of divas alongside Teresa Cristina, Maria Bernades and Aurea Martins".

"Elizeth is an inexhaustible source for all of Brazil's female singers, especially for like interpreters like myself," explains 26-year-old Thais, the proud owner of at least 40 Elizeth Cardoso recordings.

"She never limited herself to musical genres - she sung what sent shivers down her spine. Elizeth was the perfect embodiment of an increasingly rare breed of singers, the interpreter. Paying this tribute is a way of honouring a singer who had such natural instinct in knowing exactly what to sing and how to sing it."

The Tribute to Elizeth, which begins on Friday at the Armazém Digital in Botafogo, will include tracks such as "Chega de Saudade" (Vinicius de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim), "Rosa de Ouro" (Hermínio Bello de Carvalho, Elton Medeiros and Paulinho da Viola), "Canção de Amor" (Chocolate and Elano de Paula) and O Inverno do meu Tempo (Cartola and Roberto Nascimento).

The young musicians also promise a handful of the Baden Powell compositions immortalized in the voice of Elizeth Moreira Cardoso amongst them "Violão Vadio," "Refém da Solidão," "Queixa e Deixa" and "Samba Triste." Divine. Moonlit and, of course, Magnificent.

Opening night of the Tribute to Elizeth Cardoso - Friday July 15, 8pm Entrance Free

Armazém Digital, Rio Plaza Shopping, Rua General Severiano 97, Loja 108, Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro Musicians: Thais Villela - Vocals / Marcel Baden Powell - Guitar / Leandro Junior - 7 string guitar / Tiago do Bandolim - Bandolim / Cavaquinho - Charles Costa / Percussion - Amoy Ribas

Tom Phillips is a British freelance journalist who has lived in Brazil for two years. He writes for the "Independent" and the "Sunday Herald" and has had his work published in newspapers around the world. You may visit his blog at http://globalnoticias.blogspot.com or contact him on atphillips@gmail.com.

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