Buskers Bern 2010 - Program/Artists

The victory over Apartheid was a triumph but also left behind a certain void. Going back to its roots gave this group a new purpose and positive identity. The music is traditional, with dancing and singing; a highly energetic Swiss premiere.

Trends and fashions are of no concern to the young musicians from Manchester. Their straightforward Mississippi Delta blues, today an endangered kind of music, are used by Joe to beg for redemption, insistently and passionately. Listen to him, feel with him, redeem him!

Their bluesy Americana is the finest, the instrumentation somewhere between minimal and strange. Why do they wear suits made of retro wallpaper? Easy: Billy Bob is very musical, weird and unique. Dance and laugh by the six-armed Buddha.

Exclusively for Buskers Bern, the Swing Kids play and dance against all suppression and for a love of dance and life. These top dancers and musicians take the »lindy-hop« onto the street in a newly catchy way. Dance ‘til you drop!

Circus extended: out of an experiment in living in a three-story wagon, the group has developed a musical and dramatic performance that questions the traditional way of living together. There’s life and love, there is continuous acrobatic confusion.

Dado’s hunch-backed uncle is back at the Buskers and has in the meantime discovered dance: breadrolls and chickens move to the beat, he himself throws on a »tutu«. Eccentric and witty clowning, convincing mimicry, subtlety and warmth.

He has already honored Buskers with the worlds tiniest taxibus. As high-flyer in re of mobile disco party he appears in a mini airplane. Keep your eyes peeled for the charming DJ pilot and follow him: its where the bear step dances.

Due to bad teeth, his first engagement fell short as advertising shark. Therefore he dedicated himself to more subtle matters: to bedazzle and awaken things with simple magic and clownery. Fine, charming and enchanting.

It's an orgy of sound that goes from seductive oriental melodies to pure breakbeat punk and doesn't miss a thing in between. The visuals happen inside your head. When you open your eyes, you're amazed to see a rocking duo without sampler and laptop.

Hot and steamy »lyrical delicacies« from five colorful performers from Berlin. There are songs of depressed bears, of singers’ shins, delicately plucked for one moment, sloppily rushed the next, but always expressive. They’re delicious, they make you laugh and dance.

Their music is just like their home country: a melting pot of eastern cultures that found an own identity within lonesomeness. Their play is virtuosic and absorbingly authentic, though the Hudakis didn’t attend any acadamy of music nor do they know scores.

JaneWaltons extravagant shawl got caught in the crossing of her convertible and strangled her. The rumbling mix of styles of this group that carries her name is as tragic-comic as her passing. Irritating, inspiring, intoxicating.

Joel is the juggler with all the right accessories in his bag: subtle technique, two good though slightly slow-witted musicians and Erik, the opinionated robot dog. Ideal for the fast, blinking and funky show. Inclination to bang.

The untouched fiction of minor-saturated harmony, condensed with a piano solo mix between classical and metal. Pardon me? The music is played on a century-old Blüthner grand piano – go check it out, simply. Genuine inspiration.

Off to Corsica, to practice in the woods, to play on the streets, to record at the beach. Those are the origins of their groovy jazz performed on wind instruments, influenced by pop melodies, sounds from the Balkans, and even funeral music. No electric power but always electrifying.

If there are a lot of children helping, Mago Magician turns trash into instruments and shows you how to play. So take, bring or create your magic instrument and play along! Then, Mago might turn you into a real Buskers-artist.

Hyperventilated beats and traditional text frazzles, thats what the two blokes catapult out of 71 jaw-drums that are clamped together to form a musical instrument. Goggle over the most innovative representative of mühlviertler-mongolian style. Open your ears, close your mouth.

Intercontinental musicians play with an italian portuguese-by-choice with influences from Bahia, Cuba and USA. Ergo: Their mix comes from the heart, their groovy own creation is distilled in many languages: pure and substantial.

It’s a fresh mix of reggae, pop and hiphop with the necessary breeze of african sounds and grooves. The petite musician and her top-class band master soft melodies as well as aggressive pieces. Strong force of voices from Mocambique.

They meet for weekly sessions at the pub »Shoot the Crows.« Their pan-European roots mix with their love for global folk music and their boisterously Irish joy of performing. No cawing crows here! Don’t shoot them, please – fly with them!

He tells us inspiring every-day-stories, rigorously held in tradition and form of the Bernese Troubadours. Its about where his love lies: his home town, womenkind and: YB! Stories about love and people, here and there.

They use their accordions for a mixture of traditional and modern Swiss folk music, adding elements from jazz and other foreign traditions. Their joy lies in experimenting with and performing own compositions, and they transfer their happy music from a small setting into the streets.

Stirred, please, not shaken: the Boogie. Does the Waltz contain alcohol? However the Bloody Mary sounds just so fine. Synaesthetic experiences for everybody with wondrous piano that simply cannot distinguish sounds from drinks.  

The Pitt family shows strength, an exceptional sense of balance, and great flexibility: ideal for acrobats. However, the Tasmanian devil is in the details and often thwarts the perfect show. Amusing slapstick family crises.

¿Qué pasa? What’s happening? Five Polish musicians are playing flamenco? That’s way out there – and how! In a fusion of flamenco with tango and jazz, the prize-winning virtuosi play fast, precisely, and with feeling. Exhilarating

Rico researches music by playing loops live and making them come together. He feeds his machine with fragments of voices and the sounds of many different instruments thus creating rhythmic experiments which straddle world and electronic music.

First man on the moon: 1969, as well as Amadeo alone at home with his daily grind, his dog and his longings. But, here we go, THE big love: full, large and blue does she stand in the nightly sky. Take a look! Spectacle and puppet show for big feelings.

You’ll find gold in the silver boxes of this entertaining quartet: August’s long way to school, best friends behind the moon, and... psssst – secret is secret! Come on, have fun and pick the diverting musical stories out of the box yourself! For children and the young at heart.

Die B-Boy-Crew aus Ungarn ist sicher nicht zweite Wahl. Sie gewannen schon die «Battle of the Year» (inoffizielle Weltmeisterschaft) in der Disziplin, die im Volksmund als Breakdance bekannt ist. Substanzieller Körpereinsatz in unglaublicher Balance. Yo!

A sharp mix of rockabilly, 60’s garage beats, 70’s punk’n’roll and Twist’n’Swing are Theos ingredients for headstrong Chickenstomp. The gents turn up the heat which makes the street fume and the chicken on the grill go wild. Rock’n’roool!  

The young bernese Balkan-Brass-band turns up the agrarian gas. Already once did they enthuse in the legendary Guca, now they are conquering Switzerland. Exclusively and as a first they got Mišo Petrovi ’c (Mostar Sevdah Reunion) on board for their Buskers home game. Gipsy Brass Party.

John McLaughlin characterized their devotion to music as inspiring, the guitar as wonderful. Father and son from Belgrad take the musical fund from the Balkan, add Jazz and simply give it all. Passionate virtuosic family play.