By Andrew Gilbert

Some musicians dabble in acting, and some actors play at making music, but for Seu Jorge, both professions offered a route out of the grinding poverty of Rio de Janeiro's vast hillside slums.

A rising star in Brazil, the singer-songwriter, guitarist and actor first gained attention in the United States as Knockout Ned, the easygoing bus driver who joins a brutal gang war to avenge the rape of his girlfriend in the stylish 2002 hit Brazilian film "City of God." Director Wes Anderson showcased Jorge's dual talents in last year's "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou," when he asked him to give a samba spin to 11 songs by David Bowie. As the contemplative Pele dos Santos, who picks up his guitar to sing the Ziggy Stardust-era tunes in Portuguese whenever the action slows down, Jorge ended up providing a surreal thread of continuity to Anderson's disjointed fish tale.

For Jorge, his two careers complement each other.

"I understand they're completely different practices and disciplines, but often one helps and completes the other," says Jorge, 35, who makes his Bay Area debut Monday at Bimbo's 365 Club, where he'll be playing the character that fits him best -- a fun-loving bon vivant with a passel of samba-driven songs and a game but uneven baritone.

"He's the life of the party," says Mario Caldato Jr., who produced Jorge's 2002 debut album "Carolina" (Mr. Bongo).

Best known for his work with the Beastie Boys, the Brazilian-born, Los Angeles-raised Caldato, a.k.a. Mario C, has also produced projects by Jack Johnson, Beck and John Lee Hooker. He first met Jorge several years ago while working on an album by the Brazilian band Planet Hemp in Los Angeles, where Jorge had accompanied a friend, Planet Hemp founder Marcelo D2.

Impressed by his musical talent and charismatic personality, Caldato quickly agreed to help Jorge finish his first album.

"He can play any Brazilian song, samba, bossa nova, he knows them all," Caldato says from Rio, where he recently relocated with his Brazilian wife. "He carries that old-school Brazilian sound, and he's got a lot of charisma. When he played me his demo, I liked what he was doing. He already knew what he wanted to do, he just didn't know how to finish it up."

For his first North American tour, Jorge is focusing on songs from his new Wrasse Records album "Cru" (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 favelas, or slums, a background he credits with their tight bandstand connection.

"We had the same musical references and education," Jorge says from Rio, speaking in Portuguese 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 United States 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 and on the streets. 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 musician, he honed a simple, percussive approach to accompanying himself on guitar. Measuring his progress by audience reaction to his original songs, Jorge realized he had made significant progress when his tune "Sãu Gonça" became an underground hit.

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

He first recorded with the band Farofa Carioca, a group that performed in circuslike settings with sideshow acts, while holding the audience's attention with a deeply funky samba-reggae sound inflected by hip-hop and rock. 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 equally hot careers. As a musician, he's gained widespread attention 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 "City of God," a huge hit in Brazil, by Fernando Meirelles (director of "The Constant Gardener"). More recently, he's featured in "Casa de Areia" (House of Sand), a film by Andrucha Waddington, the director of "Me You Them."

For his Hollywood debut in "The Life Aquatic, Jorge was skeptical when Anderson suggested that he explore Bowie's music. Unfamiliar with his early work -- the only Bowie tune he knew was "Let's Dance" -- Jorge was pleasantly surprised when he started listening 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. It was very rich, and it was amazing to have this contact with Bowie's songs."

So can his audience expect to hear him tearing into "Rebel Rebel" 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."

SEU JORGE performs at 8 p.m. Monday at Bimbo's 365 Club, 1025 Columbus Ave., San Francisco. $20. (415) 474-0365, www.bimbos365club.com.