Many Brazilian music traditions converge in the oeuvre of the Brazilian singer, percussionist and guitarist Badi Assad. Regarding the popular genre she follows in the tracks of successful Brazilian masters such as Baden Powell, Ivan Lins and Antonio Carlos Jobim. In her compositions for classical guitar, that are often quite complex, the influence of a great composer like Heitor Villa-Lobos is recognizable. Those of us who are familiar with her biography, will understand her eclectic style a lot better. At the age of 14 she already played Brazilian chorinho's with her father. Following her brothers Sergo and Odair, two famous classical guitarists, she studied at the conservatory. In those days she won the first prize in a competition for soloists. She also was a member of the Guitar Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro. In the nineties she had her breakthrough when the leading magazine Guitar Player elected her best 'finger-style' guitarist and her album Rhythms became CD of the year. During her concerts, she always proves to be a remarkable stage personality, who while singing and playing the guitar, also manages to play a couple of percussion instruments with her legs and feet.
