This year, make it a Li’l Wally Christmas. Head over to the Record Robot, where they’ve posted a couple MP3s from an old Christmas record by Li’l Wally and the Harmony Boys. The tracks are “Merry Christmas Mom and Dad” (a Wally original) and “O Christmas Tree”.
If you want to pick up some holiday polka albums, check out the selection Jimmy K. Polkas. They have Christmas recordings from Li’l Wally (including two albums of Polish Christmas carols), Eddie Blazonczyk, Lenny Gomulka, Jimmy Sturr, and more.
Hailed as Seattle’s #1 polka band, the Smilin’ Scandinavians play a mix of Midwestern polka, Scandinavian folk, traditional country and western, Dixieland and big band swing. Led by accordionist Toby Hanson, who formed the band while at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts, the group’s name is an homage to both the “Happy Norwegian” Myron Floren and legendary polka band The Six Fat Dutchmen.
I’ve been listening to their music all morning and I love their bright, bouncy, accordion-driven sound. This is a song from their most recent album, Northwest Polka Country:
I also found a great video clip from a documentary about the Smilin’ Scandinavians. In it, Toby describes how the band got started and warns of the dangers of playing polkas in 100-degree weather:
Want a glimpse into the creative process of Those Darn Accordions? TDA tunesmith Paul Rogers is posting demos of songs he’s written for TDA‘s next album and inviting fans to chime in with their thoughts. First up is a catchy little number called “Mr. Saggy Butt” (inspired by a trip to the mall). Unfortunately, Paul creates his demos with a synthesizer and drum machine — not accordion — so you’ll just have to imagine how the accordion parts might eventually sound. Keep checking in over the next month or so as Paul posts more new songs.
Posted November 23rd, 2006 in MP3s, Rock · Comments off
A Hawk and a Hacksaw uploaded by OtterFreakThe Wordless Music Series is devoted to the idea that the “worlds of classical and contemporary instrumental music… share more in common than conventional thinking might suggest.” Each concert brings rock and classical musicans together in an intimate setting in hopes of introducing fans of each to music they might not otherwise discover.
Last week’s concert in New York City included New Mexico duo A Hawk and a Hacksaw, which features violinist Heather Trost and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Barnes on accordion and percussion (often simultaneously). Leaning heavily on accordion, violin, and brass, their music definitely has a Balkan/klezmer feel, but never really sounds traditional. They remind me a little of DeVotchKa, but more intimate-sounding and less dramatic.
A Hawk and a Hacksaw released their third album, The Way the Wind Blows, just last month. Check out the first track, “Song for Joseph”:
The 2006 Latin Grammy Awards were held last Thursday in New York and a handful of accordion-toting artists walked away with awards. A few of the highlights:
Julieta Venegas One of our recent favorites, Julieta won Best Alternative Album for Limon y Sal. She was also nominated for Album and Record of the Year, but lost to hip-shaker extraordinaire Shakira. Julieta Venegas: Me Voy (video)
Los Tigres Del Norte The Mexican music legends (and fellow Bay Area residents) took home the award for Best Norteño Album for Historias Que Contar. This is the first track off that album: Los Tigres del Norte: Señor Locutor (MP3 download)
Los Hermanos Zuleta The sons of Emiliano Zuleta (the “King of Vallenato”) won Best Cumbia/Vallenato Album for Cien DÃas De Bohemia. This track isn’t from that album, but don’t hold that against me: Los Hermanos Zuleta: Mi Hermano y Yo (MP3 download)
There are only a handful of American cities that you could honestly call “accordion hotspots”; places like Cleveland, San Antonio, or Lafayette, for example. But if Hoosier Squeeze is any indication, the number might be on the rise.
Founded in 2000, Hoosier Squeeze is a group of passionate accordionists in the Bloomington, Indiana area whose goal is to “promote the current renaissance of the sublime accordion.”
Led by Sophia Travis (who moonlights as President of the Monroe County Council) and made up of accordionists of all skill levels, the group meets regularly to play and share music. They’ve performed at numerous community events and even sponsored an accordion workshop last month at Bloomington’s annual Lotus World Music and Arts Festival.
With Hoosier Squeeze’s help, it sounds like Bloomington is well on its way to becoming one of those famous accordion hotspots…
Remember the Justice League — the superhero team of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and others, who joined forces to fight evil? Well, I like to think of Accordion Tribe as a sort of musical Justice League: five of the world’s most creative accordionists, teaming up to make inspiring music together. Just like the comic books, but without the costumes, and with a much better soundtrack.
Recognized individually as masters of classical, jazz, folk and avant-garde music, the Accordion Tribe consists of Guy Klucevsek (USA), Maria Kalaniemi (Finland), Bratko Bibic (Slovenia), Lars Hollmer (Sweden), and Otto Lechner (Austria). Formed in 1996 for a brief concert tour, the Tribe has since released three albums, toured Europe extensively, and were the subject of a documentary film called Accordion Tribe — Music Travels. Few musical “supergroups” truly mesh, but after one listen it’s clear that the Tribe members have incredible chemistry.
Their latest album, Lunghorn Twist, was released in April, and features more of the eclectic and distinctive work that has become the Tribe’s hallmark. They’ve just started a European tour (including dates in Switzerland, Germany, France, and Spain) that runs through November. Listen below to “Heimo”, one of my favorite songs from Lunghorn Twist. Written by Maria Kalaniemi, it’s a dynamic tune that opens quietly and builds to some dramatic unison playing and lively soloing. Just an amazing, all-accordion track.
Legendary Tex-Mex singer/songwriter Freddy Fender died of lung cancer yesterday at the age of 69. Freddy wasn’t an accordionist, but he certainly played with a few — most notably Flaco Jimenez when they were part of the Texas Tornados. In fact, last night at the International Accordion Festival in San Antonio, Flaco had the crowd observe a moment of silence in Freddy’s honor.
Born as Baldemar Huerta in San Benito, Texas, he played honky-tonks throughout the South and had some early success with a Spanish version of “Don’t Be Cruel”. It wasn’t until 1974, though, that he broke through with “Before The Next Teardrop Falls”, which topped both the country and pop charts. In 1989, Freddy joined with Doug Sahm, Augie Meyers, and Flaco Jimenez to form the Texas Tornados, who fused rock, country, and Mexican sounds with alternately serious and silly lyrics; this video for “Who Were You Thinking Of?” shows the sillier side:
If you want to explore Freddy’s music, this greatest hits collection (featuring hits like “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” and “Secret Love”) is a good place to start. There’s also the Best of the Texas Tornados, which I’ve been listening to all morning. And if you’re already a longtime fan, stop by his website and pay your respects in the guestbook.
Sometimes I feel like California just isn’t cutting it; all the accordion excitement seems to be in Texas. Case in point: the sixth annual International Accordion Festival starts Friday night in San Antonio with a cajun and conjunto kick-off party featuring the Gulf Coast Playboys and Mingo Saldivar.
And that’s just the beginning. The festival continues throughout the weekend with an incredible lineup of performances, workshops, and jam sessions featuring accordionists from all over the world. There’s the Renato Borghetti Quartet from Brazil, Les Primitifs du Futur from Paris, the Marian Pelka Trio from Poland, Helen Xu & Zongti Lin from China, and many more.
If you’re like me and you’re stuck somewhere besides San Antonio this weekend, you can still sample the sounds of the festival by listening to the clips below:
“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” Flaco Jimenez! No, the Tejano accordion legend hasn’t moved next door to Patrick and Squidward, but he does make a guest appearance on Spongebob’s latest album, SpongeBob Squarepants: The Best Day Ever. Put together by Tom Kenny (the voice of Spongebob), the album includes a track called “Barnacles!” that features Flaco jamming with cult rockers NRBQ.
And Bikini Bottom isn’t the only place you’ll find Flaco these days. He’s just released a new full-length album called Fiesta Del Rio. I’ve had a hard time finding any information on it — it isn’t on Amazon or iTunes yet and I’ve yet to see any reviews — but you can order it at tejanoclassics.com or directly from Flaco’s site. Judging from the track below, it sounds like it’s well worth hunting down.
This year, make it a Li’l Wally Christmas. Head over to the Record Robot, where they’ve posted a couple MP3s from an old Christmas record by Li’l Wally and the Harmony Boys. The tracks are “Merry Christmas Mom and Dad” (a Wally original) and “O Christmas Tree”.
There are only a handful of American cities that you could honestly call “accordion hotspots”; places like Cleveland, San Antonio, or Lafayette, for example. But if 
Remember the 
Sometimes I feel like California just isn’t cutting it; all the accordion excitement seems to be in Texas. Case in point: the sixth annual 
“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”