Ex-model indie producer embarks on ‘Brinoy’ music

Who knew? Former model and actress, and now indie film producer Bessie Badilla could’ve been a bossa nova star if not for Rene Balenciaga’s intervention.

In the 1970s, Bessie waxed a single on the A&W label of Villar Records. “I recorded a Tagalog version of ‘A Certain Smile’ on side A and ‘Corner of the Sky’ on side B,” she said.

She also did the voiceover of the departing girlfriend at the airport in the Dan Henry tune “20 Minutes Before Take-off.”

Almost mystical

Bessie always had an almost mystical connection to bossa nova and other things Brazilian, though. “As a 12-year-old, I listened to my aunt Kit de Leon’s collection of Astrud Gilberto and Sergio Mendes records and learned to sing in Brazilian-Portuguese, phonetically.”

Apart from the indie film “Bakal Boys,” she also coproduced Lyca Benitez-Brown’s documentary, “Dance of My Life,” which chronicled Bessie’s journey as the first Filipina to be crowned Carnival Queen in Brazil at age 50.

After that, Bessie, who lives in the suburbs of Connecticut, USA, decided to take pandeiro classes under famed Brazilian teacher Ze Mauricio, who’s based in New York.

Pandeiro, Bessie explained, is a percussive instrument similar to the tambourine. “My goal was to learn a new musical instrument every year.”

Before she could master the pandeiro, she embarked on another adventure, recording a CD of what she has dubbed “Brinoy”—Brazil and Pinoy music—early last year.

“Ze, who has worked with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, introduced me to some of the best musicians in the biz,” she said. Among those she worked with on Brinoy were Carlinhos Almeida (who plays a seven-stringed acoustic guitar called cavaquinho), Raul de Souza (a 76-year-old legendary Brazilian trombone player) and G.R.E.S. Unidos do Jacarezinho (a group of samba drummers).

On one track, “Biglang Yaman,” she performed with 40 drummers in a favela in Rio de Janeiro.

A favela is a Brazilian ghetto or slum area. She didn’t feel daunted venturing into the community, Bessie said. “I never felt safer. Ze and I donated drums to the neighborhood which they can use when they compete in this year’s Carnival.”

She also recorded a song by Rosa Passos, another revered musician. “Rosa gave us ‘Dunas,’ a song she wrote about the dunes in her hometown, Salvador, Bahia,” Bessie said. “We did a Filipino version and called it ‘Balikbayan.’” The team spent almost a year in the recording studio.

Bessie’s flamboyant sense of humor is evident in the songs’ lyrics which she wrote—particularly, in “Mujerista,” “Biglang Yaman,” “Hoy Bading,” and “Adik sa Fezbuk.” (The music was done by Noel Rosa, except for “Balikbayan” and “Hoy Bading,” which were based on Brazilian songs.)

Raul told her: “Even if I don’t understand the words, I feel the energy.”

Rosa was similarly smitten with Brinoy, specifically by the track “Bagong Anyo.” Bessie quipped: “I didn’t have the heart to tell them that ‘Bagong Anyo’ is about cosmetic surgery.”

She did all the vocal tracks on the CD, including “Adobo, a duet with Filipino Ed Borras of San Caterba band.

‘Bakal’ follow-up

The CD is available online, on iTunes and Amazon, Bessie said. “Not everyone can sell their CDs in those sites. iTunes and Amazon said they would get back to me in a month. But after only three weeks, they called to say Brinoy was in.”

Back in the indie scene, Bessie is coproducing Ralston Jover’s follow-up projects to “Bakal Boys.” “Ralston has two films in the works: the narrative feature ‘Dog Show’ and the docu ‘Darame,’” Bessie reported.

She also ventured into book publishing, with a collection of photographs from her Facebook page, “Come Visit My Philippines.”

Bessie’s always busy.