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All Music Guide:
Badi Assad is one of Brazil's most talented performers. A heartfelt vocalist who sings in English and Portuguese and is known for her Bobby McFerrin-like improvisations, Assad is also one of the country's truly accomplished guitar players. In 1995, Assad was voted Best Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitarist by editors of Guitar Player, while readers of the magazine named her album Rhythms the Best Classical Album of the Year. Although her earlier albums focused on unique interpretations of songs by songwriters such as Egberto Gizmonte, Milton Nascimento, Ralph Towner, and George Harrison, Assad displayed her songwriting talents on her 1998 album Chameleon, co-writing nine of the album's 12 tracks.
The younger sister of famed guitarists Sergio and Odair of the duo Assad, Badi, who grew up in Rio de Janeiro, studied piano at age eight. By age 14, however, she had switched to the guitar and was accompanying her father, who played chorinhos or Brazilian music on the bandolim. Sharpening her skills at the University Conservatory in Rio de Janeiro, Assad placed first in a Young Instrumentalist Contest in 1984. Assad's professional debut came as a member of the Guitar Orchestra of Rio de Janiero, conducted by Turbio Santos, in 1986. The same year, she sang and acted in a musical, Mulheres de Hollanda, written by Tatiana Cobbett and based on works by Chico Buarque.
Assad returned to music in 1987, performing throughout Israel, Europe, and Brazil along with guitarist Francoise-Emmanuel Denis as Duo Romantique. In 1988, she wrote and starred in a solo performance piece, "Antagonism," in which she played guitar, sang, acted, and danced.
Dança dos Tons, Assad's debut album, was released in Brazil only in 1989 and limited to 2,000 copies (it was re-released with bonus tracks as Dança das Ondas in 2004). Her first worldwide release, Solo, was recorded in April 1993 at St. Stephens of Hungary Church in New York. Assad followed her debut with three critically acclaimed releases including Rhythms in 1995, the instrumental Echoes of Brazil in 1997, and Chameleon in 1998.
Unfortunately, a series of personal and medical problems plagued Assad during the late '90s and early 2000s. Primarily, Assad was diagnosed with a motor skills disability that made it extremely difficult for her to play guitar. It was also during this time that she separated from her husband, guitarist Jeff Young, and, after having spent many years working in the United States, moved back to Brazil.
Ultimately, Assad made a full recovery from her disability and once again began to work. Focusing on collaborations with other guitarists, she appeared on two albums including Nowhere with Young in 2002 and Three Guitars with jazz artists Larry Coryell and John Abercrombie in 2003.
Assad returned to solo work with the release of Verde in 2005 and followed that up with the Alice in Wonderland-inspired Wonderland in 2007.
Wikipedia:
Badi Assad (born December 23, 1966) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, percussionist and guitarist in the jazz and worldbeat genres.
Early life and education
Assad was born in the city of São João da Boa Vista in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, but grew up in Rio de Janeiro until she was twelve. Her father, Jorge Assad, of Lebanese descent, plays bandolim (mandolin), and her two older brothers are classical guitarists Sérgio Assad and Odair Assad of Duo Assad. Assad studied classical guitar at the University of Rio de Janeiro and won the Young Instrumentalists Contest (“Concurso Jovens Instrumentistas for Young Musicians”) in Rio de Janeiro in 1984.
Musical career
In 1986 she joined the Guitar Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro, headed by guitar player Turíbio Santos as conductor. In 1987, she was named “Best Brazilian Guitarist of the International Villa Lobos Festival.” By 1987 she had played in Europe, Israel and Brazil with guitarist Françoise-Emmanuelle Denis under the name Duo Romantique. She released her first solo album, Dança dos Tons, in 1988. In 1990 she was selected out of two hundred women to perform as one of two vocalists in the play Mulheres de Hollanda by Brazilian composer Chico Buarque. In 1994 she became associated with Chesky Records and produced the album Solo, followed in 1995 with Rhythms, which won Guitar Player Magazine’s readers’ poll for "Best Classical Album of the Year". Assad, who sings in English and Portuguese, was voted Best Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitarist by the editors of Guitar Player in 1995. Assad released Echoes of Brazil in 1996, her last album for Chesky, and signed with Polygram Records to release Chameleon in 1997. Her song Waves was in Spain’s top 10, and was included in the soundtrack of the 2003 film It Runs in the Family, starring Michael Douglas and Kirk Douglas.
Due to a motor disability she was unable to play between 1998 and 2001, but made a complete recovery and released a collaborative album with her former husband Jeff Young in 2002 called Nowhere, and 3 Guitars the following year for Chesky. She has played and recorded with many notable artists of diverse instrumentation, including percussionist Cyro Baptista, guitarists Pat Metheny, Larry Coryell, and John Abercrombie, and didgeridoo artist Stephen Kent.
In 2011 Assad released her first DVD, co-produced by her husband Dimitri Vakros and directed by her nephew Rodrigo Assad (son of Sérgio Assad). In the same year she was protagonist (as an actress/singer) in a opera-musical Opera das Pedras, in São Paulo, Brazil, directed by Denise Milan and Lee Breuer (Mabou Mines).
