Chris and I had a great holiday and received some awesome accordion-related presents! Here are a few of the highlights:
- Custom-Made Folding Accordion Stands
Handmade by my dad, the expert craftsman! One of the stands is pictured here. Using wood from an old futon frame, he designed two identical stands from pictures of other accordion stands I found online. 
Big Lou’s Polka Casserole CD
Big Lou’s first album is a classic and belongs in every accordion lover’s collection!- Julius and Friends Slippers
Check out these awesome Paul Frank slippers that Karla gave me. The slipper on the left shows Julius the monkey playing the accordion to a chicken wearing lederhosen. These slippers are perfect for your favorite bird-lovin’, accordion playin’ friends! You can find them online at Tilly’s. 
The Weird Al Show – The Complete Series DVD
A must for every Weird Al fan, this complete series also comes with an excellent commentary track.
Did you get any cool accordion-related goodies this holiday season? Leave us a comment and tell us about them!
8 Comments:
I got a copy of Magnifico http://www.letspolka.com/2006/11/book-review-magnifico-by-victoria-miles/
which I read already, really enjoyed and will probably make my friends and relations read as well. Thanks for the recommendation.
The only other accordion related gift this year was We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, http://www.amazon.com/We-Shall-Overcome-Seeger-Sessions/dp/B000EU1PNC, in which one of the many assembled musicians is Charles Giordano on accordion. Apparently he used to play in Pat Benatar’s band (sadly it appears to have been only on keyboards and not accordion).
by Ian on December 27th, 2006
I forgot to mention that I also got Squeeze Me: The Jazz & Swing Accordion Story, a 4 CD boxed set,
http://www.amazon.com/Squeeze-Me-Jazz-Swing-Accordian/dp/B000J4OY5E
by Ian on December 27th, 2006
i’m glad you liked ‘Magnifico’! i thought it was great. :) also: that ‘squeeze me jazz’ cd sounds awesome!! i’m gonna have to check that out!
by anna on December 27th, 2006
Oooh! That box set looks excellent. How is it?
by Chris on December 27th, 2006
I wasn’t listening close on the first run through, but it’s very impressive. It’s also surprisingly reasonably priced for what you get. After all, they don’t just give you 1 or 2 Art Van Damme tracks, they give you 9. My favorite part, however, is the understated note on the box:
“The accordion amounts to no more than a footnote in the history of jazz. Yet some talented accordionists played and recorded credible jazz and swing performances as this box-set will reveal.”
Not outstanding, not INcredible, just credible.
by Ian on December 28th, 2006
Your article about accordion slippers was very funny, so I’ve done a french article about accordion slippers on my Music and Accordion Blog.
Musically to you,
Sylvie.
by Sylvie JAMET on December 31st, 2006
Any idea what make and model accordion Charles Giordano played with the Seeger Sessions Band?
by Emily Tepe on January 12th, 2007
Emily, judging from this photo, it looks like he’s playing a 48 bass piano accordion. I’m pretty sure it’s an older-style Hohner, similar to this model. One of Anna’s high school friends had that accordion (it had belonged to his grandfather) and apparently it had a great sound. Hope that helps!
by Chris on January 12th, 2007