Bild på BENTU – Badi Assad & Sergio Pereré

BENTU – Badi Assad & Sergio Pereré

Badi Assad and Sérgio Pererê had spent decades pursuing their own musical paths when they first met in 2021, after a concert in Belo Horizonte. The conversation quickly turned into music, and eventually into the album Bentu, which means “wind” in Crioulo, the creole language of Guinea-Bissau.

Pererê comes from Minas Gerais and the Reinado (also known as Congado), a centuries-old Afro-Brazilian tradition in which drums, singing and call-and-response are intertwined with devotion and community. Through Pererê, Assad was introduced to a musical world where rhythm sets the body in motion and voices build layer upon layer.

Many of the songs on Bentu were born in the studio, growing out of dreams, conversations and spontaneous ideas rather than finished arrangements. Assad sings and plays guitar, often using her body as percussion. Pererê has released more than 20 albums and brings the songs and rhythms of the Reinado tradition into his music. For both artists, tradition is not something static, but something that continues to move and evolve.

LINEUP

Badi Assad – guitar, vocals
Sérgio Pererê – vocals, percussion