However, before that return, a few defining events took place:
• In 1965, carried by the echoes of Brazilian music festivals broadcast by TV Record— which influenced inland towns to create their own—Sérgio, then 13, and his schoolmate Renato dos Santos, the same age, composed “Tristeza de Nós Dois,” a song that won first place performed by their classmate Janete. This was Sérgio’s first experience as a composer.
• Seu Jorge was approached to have his sons perform during the Wine Festival in the neighboring mining town of Andradas. The duo prepared a repertoire of popular instrumental music and, at ages ten and fourteen, went onstage to open the night for the era’s major sensation, popular singer Altemar Dutra. Onstage, likely poorly mic'd, they began playing for an audience eager for the main attraction. As expected, after only fifteen minutes, the crowd grew restless, demanding the presence of the “King of Bolero.” Seu Jorge, tolerant until then, could no longer stand it when he heard the remark: “Imagine, instead of Altemar, we have to put up with these two little sh*ts.” Ah… he couldn’t take it. In a fury, shouting and gesturing wildly, he told his sons to leave the stage immediately. At that exact moment, Sérgio and Odair were playing an arrangement by guitarist Horvildes Simões, written by Geraldo Vandré and Théo de Barros. Seeing their father raging at the edge of the stage, they understood—but instead of stopping mid-performance and leaving at once, they acted as musicians: they communicated with a look, sped up the tempo until they reached the final chord, and only then left the stage.
• After that episode, Jorge no longer wanted to expose his sons to people who didn’t care. That was when he heard of Cidão, a simple wood-splitter who lived alone on a small farm outside São João da Boa Vista, known for his love of good music. He didn’t hesitate. With his sons in tow, they visited the little shack. Sitting on the only two chairs in a dirt-floor home, with no furniture or luxury, they began to play. Cidão cried. Moved, Seu Jorge, whenever he could (or whenever they needed encouragement), would go back to play for an audience of one. Since the man had nothing to offer, he would always bring a pumpkin from his small garden in return.
• On December 23, 1966, Mariângela was born—affectionately nicknamed Badi from the cradle. Immersed from her first days in the family’s musical world, Badi would grow up surrounded by sounds and stories, becoming an artist as well, following the vocation that already pulsed within the Assad trajectory.
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Sérgio and Janete. Music: "Tristeza de Nós Dois," by Sérgio Assad and Renato dos Santos.
