By Andrew Gilbert, Globe Correspondent

In ''City of God," the stylish 2002 hit Brazilian film set in a hardscrabble Rio de Janeiro slum, Seu Jorge portrays Knockout Ned, an easygoing bus driver who joins a raging gang war to avenge the rape of his girlfriend.

In last year's ''The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou," he provided a delectable thread of continuity to Wes Anderson's disjointed fish tale as the contemplative Pele dos Santos, who picks up his guitar to sing David Bowie tunes in Portuguese whenever the action slows down.

But when Jorge makes his Boston debut on Wednesday as part of the Museum of Fine Arts' globe-spanning Concerts in the Courtyard series, the singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor will play the character that fits him best, a fun-loving bon vivant with a passel of samba-driven songs and a game if uneven baritone.

"He's the life of the party," says Mario Caldato Jr., who produced Jorge's 2002 debut album ''Carolina" (Mr. Bongo). The Brazilian-born, Los Angeles raised Caldato, a.k.a. Mario C, is best known for his work with the Beastie Boys, though his credits include projects with Jack Johnson, Beck, and John Lee Hooker.

It was when Caldato was producing an album by the Brazilian band Planet Hemp in LA several years ago that he met Jorge, who had accompanied his friend Marcelo D2 to California. Impressed by Jorge's magnetic personality and musical facility, Caldato jumped at the opportunity to help him finish his first album.

''When he played me his demo, I liked what he was doing," Caldato says from Rio, where he recently relocated with his Brazilian wife. ''He just picks up a guitar and starts writing songs. He can play any Brazilian song, samba, bossa nova, he knows them all. He carries that old-school Brazilian sound, and he's got a lot of charisma."

For his first North American tour, Jorge, 35, is focusing on songs from his new Wrasse Records album ''Cru" (which translates as ''raw"). The stripped-down arrangements provide a stark frame for his expressive voice, though on tour he's working with a larger band, featuring three percussionists and a bassist. Like Jorge, they hail from Rio's sprawling hillside favelas, or slums, a background he credits with their tight musical connection.

''We had the same musical references and education," Jorge says in Portuguese, speaking through a translator. ''So it was easier for us to develop the music to this high level because of these close friendships we have. I'm dying for the day I can be in the USA to show everyone how powerful this band can be."

Raised in a family of strivers, Jorge grew up in unsettled circumstances, spending several years homeless as a teenager. He didn't really consider a career in music until his early 20s, after he had begun studying acting. Once he started playing guitar at parties and gatherings, his friends encouraged him to keep developing his music. A self-taught guitarist, he honed a simple, percussive approach to accompanying himself. Jorge realized he had made real progress when his tune ''São Gonça" became an underground hit.

''In many concerts, people were there just to hear 'São Gonça,' " he says. ''They loved my entire repertoire, but if I didn't play 'São Gonça' it was going to be a problem. It was then that I started to realize things could work."

He first recorded with Farofa Carioca -- a group with a funky samba-reggae sound inflected by hip-hop and rock -- that performed in circuslike settings with sideshow acts. With fans such as Caetano Veloso and Jorge Ben Jor, the band was a perfect launching pad for Jorge's solo act.

Now he's in the enviable position of balancing two hot careers. As a musician, he's gained fame with the release of ''Cru" and a DVD from a performance on MTV Brazil. And as an actor he was the most sympathetic character in Fernando Meirelles's ''City of God," a hugely popular film in Brazil. More recently, he's featured in ''Casa de Areia" (House of Sand), a film by Andrucha Waddington.

''I understand they're completely different practices and disciplines," Jorge says. ''But often one helps and completes the other."

Director Anderson found a way to mine both of Jorge's talents in ''The Life Aquatic" when he asked Jorge to take 11 Bowie tunes and give them a samba spin. Jorge developed his own loose translations, and though only fragments of the songs were included in the film five are featured in their entirety on ''The Life Aquatic" soundtrack, including Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie classics ''Five Years," ''Life On Mars?," and ''Starman."

Jorge was skeptical when Anderson suggested Bowie's music. Unfamiliar with Bowie's early work -- the only Bowie tune he knew was ''Let's Dance" -- he was pleasantly surprised when he listened to the old albums.

''This Ziggy Stardust phase I didn't know," Jorge says, stepping away from the phone to practice his saxophone during the translation. ''But the first time I listened to his music, I had this feeling he was doing something very contemporary."

So can his audience expect to hear him tearing into ''Queen Bitch" or ''Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" at his concert? ''They're not part of my repertoire," he says. ''But of course, if the public is asking me to perform these songs, I will do it with pleasure."