Bent Fabricius-Bjerre (7 December 1924 – 28 July 2020), better known internationally as Bent Fabric, was a Danish

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Biography

Bent Fabricius-Bjerre was born in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He started a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

ensemble after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and founded a label, Metronome Records, in 1950. He released a series of ten inch albums on the Metronome label entitled 50 Years Of Evergreens in 1955, under the pseudonym Frank Barcley. However, he is best known for his 1961 instrumental "Omkring et flygel" (literally, "Around a Grand Piano") which became a hit in Denmark. The song was re-released worldwide under the name "Alley Cat" on

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the com ...

the following year, and went to #1 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and #49 in Germany. The tune also became a hit in the United States; the song hit #2 on the AC chart and #7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Billboard Singles Allmusic.com and the LP of the same name hit #13 on the ''Billboard'' 200. "Alley Cat" also won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Rock & Roll Recording. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The follow-up single, "Chicken Feed", hit #63 in the U.S. Fabricius-Bjerre had done extensive work in

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s prior to the success of his singles, and continued to work in film for decades after. In 2003, Fabricius-Bjerre returned to the charts, this time in his native Denmark. He released the album '' Jukebox'' as Bent Fabric, where he worked with critically acclaimed Danish musicians, including Peter Frödin. The singles "Jukebox" hit #3 in Denmark and "Shake" hit #10 that year. In 2006, a

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

of "Jukebox" was released, and the title track became a

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

hit, peaking at #7 on the US Dance/Club Play charts. The album was also re-released in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, this time featuring a remix of his famous instrumental song "Alley Cat", formerly known as “Omkring et flygel” (“Around a Piano”), among others. In 2005 he released the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, ''Kan du kende melodien'' (literally ''Do you recognize the melody'') featuring some of his most famous and recognized

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and TV scores. In 2018, Bent Fabricius-Bjerre was honored for his long and active career by the naming of a new species of beetle †''Cacomorphocerus bentifabrici (Fabrizio Fanti & Anders Leth Damgaard, 2018)''. Married thrice, he died on 28 July 2020.

Film music

* '' Poeten og Lillemor'' (1958) * Helle for Helene (1959) * Forelsket i København (1960) * Poeten og Lillemor og Lotte (1960) * Cirkus Buster (1961) * Flemming på kostskole (1961) * Svinedrengen og prinsessen på ærten (1962) * Poeten og Lillemor i forårshumør (1963) * Tre piger i Paris (1963) * Hvis lille pige er du? (1963) * (1964) * Døden kommer til middag (1964) * Pigen og millionæren (1965) * Strike First Freddy (1965) * Relax Freddy (1966) * '' Olsen-banden'' (1968–1998) * '' Olsenbanden'' (Norwegian, 1969–1999) * (1969) * Ballade på Christianshavn (1971) * Flåklypa Grand Prix (Norwegian, 1975) * Matador (TV series, 1978–1981) * Min farmors hus (1984) * Når engle elsker (1986) * Peter von Scholten (1990) * Lad isbjørnene danse (1990) * Det skaldede spøgelse (1992) * Blinkende lygter (2000) * '' Olsen-banden Junior'' (2001) * Klovn - The Movie (2010)

Discography

Albums

* 1962 '' Alley Cat'' (Atco Records) * 1962 ''The Happy Puppy'' (Atco Records) * 1963 ''Piano Party with Bent Fabric'' (Columbia 33-OSX-7720)(Australia) * 1964 ''Organ Grinder's Swing'' (Atco Records) * 1964 ''The Drunken Penguin'' (Atco Records) * 1965 ''Together!'' (with Acker Bilk) (Atco Records) * 1966 ''Never Tease Tigers'' (Atco Records) * 1967 ''Operation Lovebirds'' (Atco Records) * 1968 ''Relax With Bent Fabric'' (Atco Records) * 1997 ''The Very Best of Bent Fabric'' * 1998 ''Klaver med mer'' (CMC Records) * 2001 ''Mit livs melodi'' (Copenhagen Records) * 2004 '' Jukebox'' ( Universal) * 2005 ''Kan du kende melodien'' (Universal) * 2014 ''Bent Fabricius-Bjerre og Hans Musik'' (Warner Music)

Singles

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fabric, Bent 1924 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Copenhagen Danish jazz pianists 20th-century Danish pianists Danish film score composers Atco Records artists Musicians from Frederiksberg Danish male classical pianists 21st-century Danish pianists Danish male film score composers 21st-century Danish male musicians Bodil Honorary Award recipients