Bethencourt was born in 1967, three years after the 1964 Brazilian coup d’état that spawned an authoritarian military regime that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985. Influenced by the rise of MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) - a musical style that borrows elements from Bossa Nova and characterized by the veiled lyric criticism of social injustice and governmental repression - he began his musical studies at the age of nine with piano instructor Ethel Sophia Galliza. Soon after, Bethencourt was introduced to Jazz and Bossa Nova by a neighbor, saxophonist Victor Assis Brasil, who performed alongside Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ron Carter. Later, encouraged by renown classical composer and conductor , Bethencourt decided to pursue a musical career.