I grew up with stories about my family’s homeland. “Kibrick” is my family’s real last name. Upon arrival at Ellis Island in 1917, my grandfather William Kibrick (born in 1901) and his family added the name Bernstein like the family members that had arrived before him had done. They did so to rid themselves of their slavic sounding last name, and at the same time emphasize their Jewish heritage with a well known “American style” Jewish name. In an effort to quickly “forget” the social, economic and religious oppression that they had suffered under for generations, they immediately repressed/displaced everything Ukrainian. The entire family stopped speaking (and reading and writing) Ukrainian immediately, and the next generation were told that they were not Ukrainians.

The only thing they kept were their Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jewish cultural traditions. The music of this culture includes- Klezmer (instrumental folk music), Jewish liturgical music (religious vocal music) and folk songs and other music sung in Yiddish. William loved all of this music and he often sang and played records for me. While we were together (which was very often, we lived in the same apartment building) he would also tell me (because I begged him to) the story of his “escape” from Ukraine and what it was like to grow up during the pogroms, where the music was also used to dampen the children’s fears and push the horrors away. This part of my family history was never spoken about at gatherings during my childhood. Instead, it found its expression
in the music and culture surrounding us which could embrace and express the feelings and experiences that were too hard to put into words, and thus became a central element of my family understanding and an indispensable part of the story of my family history.

After repeated visits to the exact areas that my grandparents grew up in (Ukraine and Poland) I started an informal study of the music mentioned above. I then gradually started composing new music inspired by this music, culture and family memories from my childhood, and the feelings and emotions attached to it, and started touring with it around Europe. During concerts in Ukraine and Poland with my band Kibrick, I experienced the audience having a very strong emotional reactions to the music. Conversations with audience members after concerts revealed that many could feel and recognize their own stories in the music (many of which were similar to mine), and that thru the music were able to address emotions that previously were difficult to articulate linguistically. Many also expressed joy in having a feeling of “community” regarding these emotions.

In Everybody Comes From Somewhere, the interaction between family history, “personal DNA”, culture, storytelling and music/art, as well as the synergy arising from it, is explored.

I feel that I have developed a personal and relevant platform for the artist’s (in this case me, and later hopefully others) creative work, and also strive to experiment with concert forms that give both the artists and the audience the possibility to relate emotionally to their own stories and then share them with others. Music is absolutely not just about the artist, but also very much about the “stories” that are lived and experienced by the audience, and how these relate to the music.

Another important element of the project is the combination of the music, and the stories which are based directly on my experiences, and unconsciously includes the audience’s family history and culture as well. Music’s ability to address the related feelings across time, space and cultural affiliation as well as music’s capacity to awaken these feelings in people, fascinates and inspires me.

People often wonder what exactly does music express? A simple answer could be: emotions, feelings and beyond! Both in the research phase, where the artist uncovers his own story and identifies the feelings associated with it, in the composition phase, where the artist relates to which emotions are intended to be conveyed and how to do it, and in the concert situation- where the audience recognizes, relates to, and for many feel and respond to the emotions and feelings conveyed through the music.

The project’s focus on music’s ability to convey feelings across linguistic and cultural barriers are particularly relevant in a time when the world is challenged by great migration. These challenges are often accompanied by suspicion, aversion and resistance to strangers. Through the music the artist can seek out and activate the emotional common denominators that lie outside the reach of the language and which are recognizable across people’s personal stories making it also possible to mirror in, and in some cases actually feel each other’s stories. The hope is that artists and audiences gain a deeper understanding of who they are, and as a result,
also get a much deeper understanding of who their fellow human beings are.

Mad Cats består af Marc Bernstein på saxofoner Thommy Andersson på bas Martin Andersen på trommer. Med sig har trioen en af moderne jazz største pianister, David Kikoski. De fire herrer indspillede CD’en “The Don” sammen i april 2006.

De tre Mad Cats venner er velanskrevne navne på den danske jazzscene, og efter talrige jamsessions og lejlighedsvise koncerter besluttede de at mødes og indspille hinandens kompositioner. Orkestrets musik er en gigantisk udladning af virtuositet, nærvær og energi! CD’en fik 4 stjerne i Politikken som bl.a. skrev ”Det er en spændende plade og musikken er båret af en intensitet, der ikke undgår at rive en med sig.” Jazz Special skrev bl.a. ”en særdeles høreværdig cd.”

David er Marcs gamle ven og medstuderende fra Berklee College of Music i Boston. David har siden 1984 spillet fast sammen med jazzlegenden Roy Haynes, og har været på turne med stjerner som Michael Brecker, Joe Henderson, Ron Carter, John Scofield, Chris Potter, Christian McBride, Joey Baron, Dave Holland, Mike Stern, Chick Corea, Toots Thielemans, Pat Metheny, Victor Lewis, Tom Harrell, Gary Thomas og Marcus Miller.

Politiken [Danish]

There are groups that one constructs painstakingly, one element at a time, and then there are those that just jump out at you. Gathered together for the first time at The Village in Copenhagen, this Quartet spontaneously found itself “in orbit” around a common sphere. Even though I had known him for many years, I had never played with Peter Bruun. We connected instantly.

Marc Ducret is the main inspiration for most of this music. I am fortunate to have played a lot with him and with Davidsen, but never at the same time. It was a unique feeling of complementarity on an amazing level, where our ideas met and intermingled effortlessly…as if we were all “Out Of The Blue”.

Marc Ducret was born in Paris in 1957. A self-taught musician, he began working in various groups (dance and folk included), and in the studio, before reaching the age of 20. In 1986, he became a member of the first French National Jazz Orchestra. Also in the late ’80s, Ducret led his own trio and toured Europe, Africa, and Asia. In 1991, he began working with Tim Berne and went on to play with Berne in Caos Totale, Bloodcount, and Big Satan. Ducret has several solo recordings to his credit, released on Berne’s Screwgun label and the Winter & Winter label. In the late ’90s, Ducret formed a tentet, Seven Songs, to explore music of the ’60s.

Peter Bruun, b.1979, Copenhagen Denmark. Peter started playing drums at the Rythmic Childrens School in Vesterbro in Copenhagen at the age of three. This became a life-long immersion into drums, music and composition. Peters mother and father are both music lovers and in his childhood home there were always instruments and people to play them. He was admitted to the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, at the age of eighteen. After 3 years he discontinued his formal education to travel in India and Brzsil and continue his study on his own.

Peter is an active member of ILK (Independent Lable of Kobenhavn). ILK is a danish collective of musicians who releases music with absolute artistic freedom. Peter is a founding member of the band Eggs Laid By Tigers who released their first album “Under The Mile Off Moon” in 2012. Peters most recent release is called “Unintended Consequences” and explores the borders between composition, instant composing and improvisation.

Nils Bosse Davidsen has performed on both acoustic and electric rickenbacker bass on danish and international jazzscenes for more than 20 years now. He has played and recorded with people like Dr. Eugene Chadbourne, Ikue Mori, John Tchicai, Tim Berne, Dave Liebman, Marc Ducret, Django Bates, Ray Anderson, Luther Thomas, Joachim Kühn, Herb Robertson, Richie Beirach, Adam Nussbaum, Tom Rainey, Peter Brötzmann, Chris Speed, Iian Bellamy, Sam Yahel and Gary Thomas. Nils is a member of Bobby Previte’s “Pan Atlantic Band” with Benoit Delbecq, Wolfgang Puschnig and Gianluca Petrella. In Denmark and abroad Nils is well known from bands like: When Granny Sleeps, Oknok Kongo, Carsten Dahl “experience”, Phoenix City, Cph. Art Ensemble, Kasper Tranberg’s “Yakuza Shuffle”, Butch Lacy trio, Peter Bruun’s “Radar”, Krister Jonsson Trio, Jakob Dinesen Trio, T.S. Hoegh’s “Locomotion Starsemble”, Jakob Davidsens “Mangfoldighed”, “Kibrick”, Havens Fugle, Buffalo Age (with Chris Speed), Hoeg/Davidsen/Osgood, Jan Kaspersen 6tet, Jacob Anderskov, Tranberg/Davidsen, Simon Toldam Trio and STORK.

Jazznyt
Ivan Rod

Marc Bernstein har ladet sig inspirere af Tyrrestrups penselstrøg, farver, former, retninger, stoflighed og tempo, og Tyrrestrup har ladet sig inspirere af Bernsteins modulationer, rytmer, artikulationer, lydnuancer og dynamik – gensidigheden i kunstarternes mange lag.

Kunstnerne mødtes på Syddansk Musikkonservatorium i Esbjerg, hvor Marc Bernstein blev inspireret af Hans Tyrrestrups 22 friser (Nocturnes). Derefter fordybede de sig i hinandens kunstarter i Tyrrestrups atelier i Thorstrup, hvor de udfoldede deres private jam-sessions.

“The initial inspiration for the music of KIBRICK (which is also my original last name) began with the realization that in order to express my family roots and heritage in Eastern European Jewish tradition, through a primarily New York City/ American musical and cultural context, an approach would have to be devised to coordinate intent with action and the band KIBRICK was born.”
– Marc Bernstein

Cadence Magazin
Danmarks Radio

Danmarks Radio
Information
Jazz Special

New York-bred and Denmark-based saxophonist, Marc Bernstein, has built a rich recording catalog over the last 20 years, centering projects around inspiring musical voices and friends including Tom Harrell, Billy Hart, and David Kikoski. For the eight originals, along with a version of “Windmills of Your Mind”, making up “Hymn for Life”, Bernstein focused on the “Good People” around him and in particular, the mesmerizing vocalist Sinne Eeg, his former student, now colleague at the The Southern Danish Conservatory and Denmark’s most prominent jazz vocalist. Longtime friend and musical collaborator, Bob Moses, contributes his deeply unique rhythmic and orchestral concepts to the band, which also includes pianist Jacob Anderskov and bassist Jonas Westergaard. “…the music is driven by an intensity which is impossible not to be attracted to.”
– Politiken.

Gaffa
Gaffa [English]
Jazznyt
Midwest Records
Emusic Review
Longplay: Radio Jazz

“Intriguing release by multi-reedist Bernstein, and featuring drummer extraordinaire Billy Hart. A quartet rounded out with drums, piano, and bass. Compositions with an inquisitive nature that gets the musicians in a searching frame of mind. Cool, evocative music, the kind of jazz that, when played, can make the mundane seem special just by way of it being the soundtrack to that particular moment. Highly recommended!”
– Emusic.com

Jazznyt
Jazzstjerner

This CD is conceived as a tribute to the great modern trumpet and flugelhorn player, Tom Harrell. Seven of the eight tunes are written by band members (including two by Harrell) especially for the occasion. Marc Bernstein plays soprano, alto and tenor sax with equal authority and ingenuity. Of the original music written by the band members especially for this session, Harrell says, “I feel very at home with these songs because they relate to emotions and feelings that are very close to me.”.

The result is some very intense, moving and beautiful music, clearly enhanced by a great young Danish rhythm section (on 6 of the 8 tunes). The last two numbers on the CD are recorded in New York without Harrell and with another fine rhythm group. The excellent trumpet player here is Chris Rogers, whom Tom Harrell recommended as his replacement in the Gerry Mulligan Big Band, and who also played in Harrell’s own big band. This CD is not only a fine tribute to the legendary Tom Harrell, but also a fitting portrait of a great young saxophonist.

Marc Bernstein’s musical odyssey began as a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. From 1986-89 he was a member of Chico Hamilton’s group. At the group’s 1989 JVC Jazz Festival concert, his playing caused New York Times critic John S. Wilson to highlight Marc as “the most exciting” soloist in the group.

He then went on to play with such jazz luminaries as Billy Hart and James Moody as well as making appearances with his own group at many of New York’s top jazz clubs, most notably ‘The Blue Note’ and ‘Visions’.

Since moving to Denmark in 1994 he has appeared with own groups and as a member of Klüvers Big Band and Ensemble New. During this time he has performed with amongst others Bob Mintzer, Carsten Dahl, Lars Jansson, Jens Winther, Billy Cobham, one of Europe’s finest bassists Mads Vinding and the incredible Billy Hart who join Marc on this, his debut album as a leader.

Along with Marc, Mads and Billy is Olivier Antunes, a very promising young pianist who makes his recording debut here.