BENTU (Badi Assad & Sérgio Pererê)

Brazilian duo rooted in the Afro-Brazilian Reinado tradition.

Badi Assad and Sérgio Pererê had decades of parallel careers behind them when they first met in 2021, after a concert in Belo Horizonte. From that meeting, Bentu was born, an album whose title means 'wind' in the Crioulo of Guinea-Bissau.

A central inspiration is the Reinado, an Afro-Brazilian tradition from the state of Minas Gerais where music is hardly rehearsed and is mainly experienced collectively. Rhythm and voice are the starting points, which you can clearly hear on Bentu. The songs on the album emerged organically, from conversations, dreams, and improvisations in the studio. Both sing on the album: Assad also plays electric-acoustic guitar and Pererê an arsenal of West African and South American instruments, from calabash and bara dunun to tama and charango.

Badi Assad vocals/electric-acoustic guitar, Sérgio Pererê vocals/calabash/bara dunun/tama/charango