Chicago Guitar Festival 2010: Paulinho Garcia and Badi Assad Review

By: Dr. Matt Warnock

When I first heard that 2010 would feature the inaugural run of the Chicago Guitar Festival I quickly marked my calendar and searched through the list of concerts to see who would be showcased at this year’s event. After seeing such names as Pat Martino, Paul Galbraith, Goran Ivanovich and Andreas Kapsalis I realized that the folks behind the festival were really getting things off the ground with a bang.

Unfortunately due to my travel and work schedule I was only going to be able to attend one evening of the festival. With that knowledge in hand I set down the schedule of events and began trying to reorganize my schedule so I could enjoy as many of these great artists as possible. When it all came down to it, the only night I could make it to the festival was Saturday, October 9th, which, to my happy surprise, just so happened to be the night that two of Brazil’s most talented guitarists would be taking the stage at the Logan Auditorium, Paulinho Garcia and Badi Assad.

Though I was still a little bummed that I wasn’t going to be able to catch more of the festival, I was familiar with Paulinho’s work and of course had heard Badi’s albums, so I knew that they would be putting on a great show, and to my and the crowd’s enjoyment, they managed to outdo our expectations at every turn.

Badi Assad Live at the Chicago Guitar Festival

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Paulinho Garcia

First to take the stage was Paulinho Garcia, the “King of Bossa Nova,” as he was later described by Badi Assad. A long-time Chicago favorite, Garcia performed a short set of solo Brazilian standards which he sang and accompanied himself on his nylon-string guitar.

After seeing Garcia perform in an ensemble just a few weeks earlier, I was looking forward to hearing him featured as a solo artist in an intimate setting. Whereas Garcia preferred to play the role of accompanist with the ensemble, he took this opportunity to showcase his incredible skills as an improviser, with both his voice and guitar.

What makes Garcia stand out from the rest of the singer-guitarists on the scene today is his ability to multi-task on the guitar while maintaining a vocal melody or improvisation. Watching his hands bounce between basslines, chords and melody lines, often at the same time, while singing the melody to “One Note Samba” or “Morro Nao Ten Vez” is a wonder to watch, and a joy to listen to.

What makes Garcia’s musicianship even more remarkable is the fact that he looks so relaxed while playing such complex and attention demanding material. Whereas some performers build a sense of energy and anticipation with their audiences by making complex material seem difficult and hard to pull off, Garcia takes the opposite approach. Using his talents on the guitar, and as a singer, so put the audience at easy.

He masks the fact that what he is playing is extremely difficult by focusing on simple, easy to digest rhythms and melodies that the audience can connect to. It’s clear from an audience member’s perspective that what Garcia is playing is in service of the melody, the song and building a deep connection with his audience, something that can often be lost within the context of a solo jazz-guitar performance.

Garcia’s set was short but memorable. He played songs from his homeland that reflected the inherent beauty of Brazilian music and the deep sense of respect the country’s composers have for melody and melodic development. I know I’m quoting myself here, but if you’re ever in the Midwest and you get a chance to catch Garcia in concert, as either a soloist or in an ensemble, take that opportunity, you’ll be glad you did.

Paulinho Garcia Live at the Chicago Guitar Festival

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Badi Assad

After a short intermission, which gave the audience a chance to catch its breath after Garcia’s set, Brazilian guitar sensation Badi Assad took the stage for what would turn out to be one of the more memorable shows I’ve seen this year. Having never seen Badi live in concert, but having seen her brothers live during my last tour of Brazil, I had an idea of what the concert would hold from a musical perspective, but I wasn’t really prepared for the rollercoaster ride that was to follow.

As she took the stage with her cutaway nylon-string guitar, headset microphone and bright, flowery dress, Badi immediately set the tone for her set as she dove into a piece filled with soaring melodies, vocal percussion, complex guitar work and vibrant personality that immediately brought the crowd to attention. With a voice that is more in the vein of Beth Gibbons, or dare I say Bjork, Badi’s music is in one sense traditional and at the same time fully modern and experimental.

As a guitarist she is first rate, relying on her remarkable right-hand technique to drive the rhythm and her flawless left-hand to push the boundaries of what one would consider Brazilian harmony, Badi’s approach to the guitar is grounded in traditional training but is highly experimental at the same time. During her set she used multiple artificial harmonic technique, right and left-hand percussion, fast moving waves of arpeggiated chords and strumming to continuously change the timber and tone of her pieces.

Far from being a singer-songwriter in the traditional sense, Badi borrowed from many different styles and genres of music during her set. Her prepared guitar version of “Lullabye,” where she inserted a drumstick under her string right above the sound hole, then plucked and bent the strings with both hands, as well as her surprisingly authentic country-pickin’ version of “Pago-Blues,” where she conjured up the ghosts of Jerry Reed, Les Paul and Lenny Breau during a five-minute flurry of bluegrass inspired playing, were just two high points in a highlight filled set.

Aside from being a remarkable talent on the guitar, Badi possesses a very unique vocal quality and ability that kept the audience guessing as to what was coming next. Breaking the boundaries of traditional vocal restraints, Badi used everything in her creative bag o’ tricks to express herself through her music as a vocalist.

Using vocal percussion, sound effects, mimicked speech patterns, huge dynamic swells and an extraordinary range, Badi blurred the boundary between singer and instrumentalist with her vocal work, something that is a rare occurrence in today’s pop filled music scene. Saving the best for last, Badi performed a solo-vocal piece for her encore that was simply stunning. At one point she was using circular breathing to simultaneously beat box and hum a melodic line that had audience members searching around the room for a “mystery” second vocalist, but finding none.

While her theatrical stage presence and high-level of experimentation and boundary pushing may not be for everyone, Badi is definitely a unique and talented performer who puts on one heckuva show. Even if some of the audience members were more inclined the to the laid back approach of Garcia’s opening set, and didn’t really know what to think of Badi’s eccentric musical landscape, they were witness to one of the most creative and thought provoking solo artists to come out of Brazil since Baden Powell.

Badi Assad Live at the Chicago Guitar Festival

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The only downside to the concert was the sound. At points both artists were barely audible, as vocalists and guitarists, and there were several moments when loud hissing sounds emanated from the on-stage speakers. With a huge speaker set-up on both sides of the stage it was a bit confusing as to why, even in the front row, the guitar parts were barely audible during much of the show. It was too bad that at times many people had to strain to hear, or couldn’t hear, the great music that these guitarist’s performed because of an issue with the house sound system and/or technician.

After the concert had ended and we were all filing out of the auditorium I couldn’t help but hope that the Chicago Guitar Festival continues next year and that this year’s event wasn’t a one-time thing, but a prelude to many years of great music to come. My hats off to Edgar, Goran, Andreas and everyone at the Chicago Guitar Festival, they did a great job, provided wonderful artists from a variety of backgrounds and whet everyone’s appetite for what they have up their sleeves next year.

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Paulinho Garcia Live at the Chicago Guitar Festival