Bratko Bibic & The Madleys

Slovenian accordionist Bratko Bibič was a key member of Begnagrad, a pioneering group that melded Eastern European folk music with avant-prog during the '70s and '80s, before he joined Swiss multi-instrumentalist Momo Rossel's transatlantic Rock in Opposition-flavored Nimal in the late '80s and Slovenian/American Guy Klucevsek's international Accordion Tribe in the '90s. In contrast to these collaborative outfits, Bibič also stepped out as the leader of his own band, the Madleys, initially formed as a trio comprising Bibič, Begnagrad clarinetist/saxophonist Bogo Pečnikar, and violinist/violist Matjaž Sekne in 1995. That year, the Swiss imprint LabelUsineS released Bibič's first solo album, Bratko Bibič & the Madleys of Bridko Bebič, on which Pečnikar and Sekne played. The accordionist asked them to join him in a Madleys threesome that would also perform live. On record and in live performance, the group took an avant-gardist stance toward Eastern European folk, melding lovely melodies with odd-metered rhythms, improvisational interludes, and an often quirky sensibility. Bibič would devote considerable energies to the Accordion Tribe during the late '90s, but the Madleys remained on the back burner and, around the turn of the millennium, expanded from a trio to a quintet with the addition of two more former Begnagrad members, bassist Nino De Gleria and drummer/percussionist Aleš Rendla. At various Eastern European venues, this version of Bratko Bibič & the Madleys performed a Bibič-composed score in accompaniment to screenings of Na Domačem Vrtu (In the Family Garden), the accordionist's assemblage of historical clips from the Slovenian Cinamatheque Film Archive Department. The quintet recorded the score at Ljubljana, Slovenia's Fabrika 13 studio during 2000 and 2001, and the Na Domačem Vrtu (In the Family Garden) album -- also featuring a pair of tracks recorded live -- was released by Slovenska Kinoteka in 2002. The next several years would see Bibič maintaining his involvement in the Accordion Tribe and other collaborations, but the Madleys would resurface in a new incarnation for a truly ambitious project, joining with the Swiss quintet Rämschfädra (Sonja Füchslin, piano and violin; Patrizia Pacozzi, violin; Livia Bergamin, flute and piccolo; Thomas Estermann, double bass and acoustic guitar; and Roberto Imfeld, accordion) and Canadian-born multi-instrumentalist Shirley Anne Hofmann (a contributor to Bratko Bibič & the Madleys of Bridko Bebič) to perform Bibič's repertoire at the Alpentöne international music festival in August 2007. Returning to the Madleys fold for this occasion was violinist/violist Sekne, joined by newcomers Vasko Atanasovski (saxophone and flute), Boštjan Gombač (clarinet and flute), and Marjan Stanič (drums and percussion). The 11-piece ensemble tackled the range of Bibič's challenging yet good-natured music with vigor, the spirited mix of skewed Euro-folk, precisely executed chamber music flavors, rambunctious swinging jazz, lyrical and dramatic compositional turns, and avant-gardist exploration captured on Live at Alpentöne, released by the Bergtöne label in 2009. In December 2011 Bratko Bibič & the Madleys returned to the stage, this time at Ljubljana's Kino Šiška Center for Urban Culture, to perform new Bibič compositions written over the preceding two years. Slovenian trombonist Uroš Polanc was the newest Madleys member, joining the leader, Sekne, Atanasovski, and Gombač; a number of guest musicians -- including Vienna-based accordionist/vocalist Otto Lechner, like Bibič a former member of the Accordion Tribe -- also participated in the concert, making the overall ensemble comparable in size to the group heard on Live at Alpentöne. Music from the Kino Šiška event appeared on the album Kabinet čudes Brutka Bimbiča (aka Cabinet of Wonders of Brutko Bim-bitch), released by the Slovenian Klopotec label in 2013. The album also included largely improvised selections -- inspired by Dante's The Divine Comedy and featuring sampling and nonsensical vocals -- from a Madleys club date recorded in 2010.
© Dave Lynch /TiVo