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Bitter Funeral Beer Band

Live In Frankfurt 82

 Live in Frankfurt 82
with Don Cherry & K. Sridhar

CE09 - Release date october 16, 2007

Bitter Funeral Beer Band was a unique band with an early world music with an own identity that mixes african funeral music and improvisation with a nordic touch that has not existed before or after the few years in the 80's that the band was active. Led by Bengt Berger who had studied a couple of years in Ghana, the band based a lot of the music on the funeral music concept of the Lo-Birifor people of northern Ghana.The band did its first cd, Bitter Funeral Beer, on ECM and then one more, Praise Drumming (vinyl only) on the swedish Dragon label.

Frankfurt lineup and soloists

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  • 1    Darafo
  • 2    Chetu
  • 3    Bitter Funeral Beer
  • 4    Funeral Dance
  • 5    Gahu

Musicians

Bengt Berger, Ko-Gyil (Lo-Birifor funeral xylophone), Atsimevu (Ewe master drum);
Anita Livstrand, Ko-Gyil, voice, percussion;Bosse Skoglund, percussion;Thomas Mera Gartz,percussion, tenor sax;Sigge Krantz, acoustic and electric bass, guitar, percussion;Matthias Helldén, cello, percussion;Tord Bengtsson, violin, guitar, percussion;Christer Bothén, tenor sax, bass clarinet, percussion;
Björn Hellström, bass clarinet, flute, percussion;
Ulf Wallander, soprano sax, tenor sax, percussion;
Jörgen Adolfsson, soprano sax, alto sax, percussion;
Tommy Adolfsson, trumpet, percussion; Don Cherry, pocket trumpet;
K. Sridhar, sarod.

More info

Frankfurt 82 - soloists:
1. Darafo 7:16 Soloists: Matthias Helldén, cello; Don Cherry, pocket trumpet;
2. Chetu 9:38 Soloists: Sigge Krantz, elgitarr, Don Cherry, pocket trumpet
3. Bitter Funeral Beer 9:42 Soloists: K. Sridhar, sarod; Don Cherry, pocket trumpet, Anita Livstrand, röst; Thomas Mera Gartz, tenorsax;
4. Funeral Dance 26:04 Soloists: Tord Bengtsson, fiol; Tommy Adolfsson, trumpet; Ulf Wallander, tenorsax; Björn Hellström, flöjt; K. Sridhar, sarod and Don Cherry, pocket trumpet; Sigge Krantz, elbas; Jörgen Adolfsson, altsax; Tommy Adolfsson, trumpet; Christer Bothén, tenorsax; Matthias Helldén, cello; Bosse Skoglund and Thomas Mera Gartz, drums;
5. Gahu (trad. arr. Berger) 3:55 Soloist: Bengt Berger, Atsimevu

Country & Eastern released two live concerts by the band on october 16, 2007:

CE 09 Live in Frankfurt 82, was recorded by Hessischer Rundfunk at 18 Deutsches Jazzfestival at Alte Oper in Frankfurt with Don Cherry and the indian sarod maestro K. Sridhar as guests, and

CEX09 Live in NĂĽrnberg 84 was recorded by Bayerischer rundfunk.

Download a cover for your mp3 download.

Press release: C&E News october 2007

Here are reviews in swedish and in english from Jazzwise and fROOTS

Nominated for a swedish jazz grammy 2007!

Video clips from the concert

 

"This is exhilarating music that reaches for a touch of the divine and does not stop until it gets there." - Jason Weiss