Bent Fabricius-Bjerre
I marts 2020 blev jeg hyret af Eddie Skoller og hans hustru Dorrit Elmquist til at spille en intimkoncert for deres venner i deres hjem. Der mødte jeg Bent Fabricius-Bjerre.
5-10 min. før min koncert blev jeg uventet star-struck. Det var underligt for jeg har før optrådt for mange store navne (Ray Charles, Conan O’brien, Aaron Neville…) og aldrig før følt mig usikker. Men Bent Fabricius-Bjerre var der et eller andet over… Måske var det fordi han var dansk og det pludselig var helt tæt på – og fordi hans musik har været der gennem hele mit liv(?) Efter koncerten kom han over til mig og det viste sig, at han var en nede-på-jorden, rar og i øvrigt en meget nysgerrig mand. Han spurgte bl.a. ind til min karriere, mine sange og om hvordan jeg lavede mine instrument-lyde med munden. Han var super sød og ville introducere mig til fine folk i branchen.
Til min store overraskelse fortalte han også, at han lavede gratis musik til en spillefilm, som først ville give penge hvis projektet blev til noget. En såkaldt ‘spekulations-deal’. Det er normalt kun en komponist, der ikke er så etableret der ville gå med til sådan en deal. Men han syntes det var sjovt og ville gerne hjælpe andre, der ikke var så etablerede.
Vi snakkede kun en times tid (som egentlig er ret meget taget i betragtning af situationen), men jeg nåede da at få et indtryk af denne rare og talentfulde mand. Vi udvekslede også et par sjove historier og han fortalte bl.a. om sit super-hit Alley Cat fra 1962 i USA (denne sjove historie findes på youtube). En super hyggelig aften hos de vildt søde Eddie og Dorrit.
Tak for alt musikken Bent og dit venlige sind jeg lige nåede at opleve.
Ben Chawes
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(English)
Bent Fabricius-Bjerre
In March 2020, I was hired by Eddie Skoller and his wife Dorrit Elmquist to play an intimate concert for their friends in their homes. I met the renowned composer Bent Fabricius-Bjerre there.
5-10 mins. before my concert I became unexpected star-struck. It was strange because I've performed for many 'big names' before (Ray Charles, Conan O ' brien, Aaron Neville...) and never felt insecure. But there was something about Bent Fabricius-Bjerre... Maybe it was because he was Danish and it therefor felt like one of my own people - and because his music always has been a part of my life (?) After the concert he came over to me and it turned out he was a down-to-earth, nice and by the way a very curious man. Among other things, he asked about my career and how I made my instrument sounds with my mouth. He was super nice and wanted to introduce me to the 'important people' in our industry.
To my big surprise, he also told me that he made free music for a movie that would only pay him if they succeed to sell the project. A so-called 'speculation deal'. Usually it's only a composer that isn't so established who would agree to such a deal. But Bent thought it was fun and wanted to help others who weren't so established.
We only talked about an hour (which is actually quite much considering the situation), but I got a god impression of this nice and talented man. We also exchanged a couple of funny stories where he – among other stories – told me about his super hit Alley Cat from 1962 in the US. A really nice evening with the sweetest Eddie and Dorrit at their house (that actually used to be Bent's home).
Thank you for all the music Bent and your sweet personality I was fortunate to be just in time to experienced.
Ben Chawes