Bratko Bibic

Slovenian accordionist Bratko Bibic (born 1957) has had an irregular career, his name periodically popping in and out of public view. He was first known to Rock-in-Opposition enthusiasts for blending Slavic folk elements with avant-gardist rock in the groups Begnagrad and Nimal in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He later came to wider attention as one fifth of the international avant-world fusion group Accordion Tribe. He released his first solo album in 1995. His idiosyncratic playing expresses exuberance and sorrow, impressions enhanced by his use of onomatopoeic singing. Bibic grew up in a family where the accordion was part of everyday life. He began to perform in public at the age of 16 and two years later he was leading Begnagrad. Attempting an ambitious fusion of East-European folk, jazz and circus music, this group followed a similar path as Sweden's Samla Mamas Manna and Italy's Stormy Six. The group toured the Yugoslavian republics, made a trip to Switzerland, released its only LP in 1982 and disbanded a year later (two more albums of archival material came out afterwards). After a hiatus during which he worked on film and dance scores, Bibic resurfaced in 1987 in Nimal, a group including ex-Débile Menthol members Momo Rossel and Jean-20 Huguenin (both Swiss), plus Tom Cora and Pippin Barnett (both American). Viewed by many as a rock-in-opposition supergroup, Nimal enjoyed a short but eventful career, releasing two albums, touring Europe's new music festivals and making one North-American appearance at the 1988 FIMAV festival. The group disbanded in 1991. Followed another episode of dance scores interspersed by short trips to Switzerland and the first solo concerts, all over a backdrop of political turbulence in Yugoslavia, which made any artistic activity very...