From Blacksmith to Miner

Bratko Bibič (*1957, Ljubljana), started his active music life when he was 16 years old and has kept it going until these days. On the way, he founded the Ljubljana based group Begnagrad (1975-1977; 1981-1983) which pioneered the world music idiom but also anticipated the New York Down Town music of the late 1980thies. He further developed his experimental and inovative approach to the (accordion) music with international line up Nimal Group (1987 – 1991), featuring Tom Cora – (el.) cello, Pippin Barnett - drums (USA), Jean Maurice Rossel, Jean Vin Huguenin – both multi-instrumentalists (CH), afterwards performing mostly solo concerts and experimenting in musical projetcs with Han Bennink, Atnhony Coleman, John King, Han Rowe, Joachim Roedelius, Ulli Scherer, Mathias Ruegg, Emil Krištof, Wolfgang Mitterer, K. Dickbauer, R. Malfatti, Stefan Wittwer, Waedy Gisy... In 1995 he founded his own Ljubljana based group The Madleys (1995 – 2015) and started cooperation with accordionist and composer Otto Lechner, with whom he soon joined international accordion quintet Accordion Tribe (1996-2010), fetauring also accordionists and composers Guy Klucevsek (USA), Maria Kalaniemi (SF) and Lars Hollmer (S). In 2009, Bibič joined as a composer-performer the foundation of Otto Lechner's Die Wiener Ziehharmoniker (2009 to the present). With all mentioned formations, as a soloist and in various arrangements he performed his music mostly in Western Europe (all countries except Portugal, Danemark and Norway), USA (New York, Chicago), Canada (Victoriaville 2x), and in India (Chandigargh, New Delhi, Mumbai/Bombay). His performances took place in great variety of venues, most notably in Knitting Factory, Town Hall (New York City), Chicago Symphony Orchestra Center (Chicago), WDR Grosse Sendessaal Koeln (Cologne), Wiener Konzerthaus - Mozart Saal (Vienna), Bruckner Haus (Linz), Luxmebourg Philharmonie, Kultur- und Kongress–Zentrum Luzern, Palace of Arts (Budapest), Koelner Philharmonie (Cologne), Bimhuis (Amsterdam), MIDEM Cannes, Thetaerspektakel Zuerich, Cankarjev dom (Ljubljana) etc.

As of 2018, Bibič's music compositions and performances has been released on 2 vinyl LPs and 15 CD albums in former Yugoslavia, future Slovenia, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Israel. Documentary film “Accordion Tribe: Music Travells” (dir. by S. Schwitterts, CH & A, 2004) won the first award for the best Swiss documentary of the year. DVD “In the Family Garden” (2005, 145 min.) features recordings of three part live music-film screening project which Bibič edited, composed music for and co-produced with Slovenian Film Archive & Slovenian Cinematheque (1999-2005). In this period he toured with the project under the label “The Travelling Cinema of Bridko Bebič” (Bitterly Sad Idiot), lined-up with The Madleys musicians, around Slovenia, Europe (Belgium, Austria, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Germany, Netherlands) and USA (Chicago, Gene Siskel Film Center). Remake of the project, centered on live music-sound film parts of the project, took place at the Slovenian film festival editions in 2015 and 2016, the latter lined-up with his present musical collaborators Eduardo Raon and Vid Drašler.