File this one under “Buskers Gone Bad”: Police in Tromsø, Norway, are cracking down on accordion street musicians after fielding numerous complaints from residents. Police chief Truls Fyhn says:

“The reports we’ve had indicate that people are being driven mad by the tunes coming from the accordions all day long… I have myself stopped to listen, and let me make it clear: The quality of the music is very, very low.”

Ouch, that’s a harsh review. According to the article, it’s now only legal to play accordion music outside in the city’s main central square. I think what this town really needs is some better accordion players; who’s up for a trip?

Gilbert Reyes of Reyes Accordions recently shared some photos of the new diatonic accordions that Hohner will unveil at the NAMM Show later this month. These three new “Xtreme” models have 34 buttons (the standard Corona has 31) and include reed switches — three on the Tex-Mex Corona II Xtreme and five on the norteño and vallenato tuned Corona III Xtremes. They certainly seem designed to compete with Gabbanelli accordions, which have long been popular in the Conjunto/Tejano scene.

Hohner Corona II Xtreme

Continue reading ‘New Hohner Accordions for 2008’ »

Talk about an accordion crime. Police in Costa Mesa, CA, are on the lookout for thieves who stole an antique accordion from a crowded parking lot on Sunday. Gigi Rabe had the accordion in the trunk of her car when she pulled into the Plaza West shopping center. She got out of her car, opened her trunk, and then stepped away to greet some friends who pulled up. When she returned, her accordion was gone.

Rabe is an accomplished accordionist working on a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at UCLA, and the accordion — a rare, vintage Dallape — is valued at $10,000. Police think it’s an “opportunist-type crime” and doubt the thieves knew they were stealing an accordion. Keep your eyes peeled; if you see a classic Dallape accordion on Craigslist, eBay, or your local pawn shop’s window display, you might want to give the Costa Mesa police a ring.

The nominations for the 50th annual Grammy Awards were announced this morning and there are plenty of accordions in the mix. (Really!) First, the nominees for Best Polka Album:

• Polka’s Revenge by Brave Combo
• Bulletproof Polkas by John Gora & Gorale
• Polka Freak Out by Bubba Hernandez and Alex Meixner
• Dueling Polkas by Walter Ostanek and Brian Sklar
• Come Share the Wine by Jimmy Sturr and his Orchestra

It’s no surprise to see 16-time winner Jimmy Sturr nominated again, but he’ll face stiff competition from one of the few non-Sturr artists to take home the polka Grammy, Brave Combo.

Meanwhile, this year marks the first time the Best Cajun/Zydeco Album Grammy will be awarded. Here are the nominees:

• Le Cowboy Creole by Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie
• King Cake by Lisa Haley
• Live: Á La Blue Moon by Lost Bayou Ramblers
• Blues De Musicien by Pine Leaf Boys
• Racines by Racines
• The La Louisianne Sessions by Roddie Romero And The Hub City All-Stars
• Live! Worldwide by Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience

Seven great albums and it’s especially fitting that Terrance Simien — who worked so hard to make the Cajun/Zydeco Grammy reality — is one of the inaugural nominees.

In other categories, Tejano accordionist Sunny Sauceda is up for Best Tejano Album, while the legendary Los Tigres Del Norte are nominated for Best Norteño Album again after winning last year. They’ll square off against Intocable, Conjunto Primavera, Pesado, and Los Rieleros del Norte.

Just like last year, we’ll have reviews and clips from each of the nominated albums in the weeks leading up the awards ceremony, which will be held on February 10 in Los Angeles.

A few months ago, we wrote about the sudden disappearance of Bobby Jones, popular polka DJ and accordionist for the Bobby Jones Czech Band. Since then, we’ve received numerous emails and comments from friends and fans of Bobby who remember the joy and music he brought to their lives.

As KHOU in Houston reported this week, though, we’re still no closer to finding out what happened to Bobby. Tire tracks and his license plate were found on the banks of the Colorado River in Wharton shortly after his disappearance, but an extensive search has failed to turn up his vehicle. Was it an accident? Was it suicide? Or is he still alive and somewhere else entirely? Fans have been frustrated by the lack of answers, but in some ways, it seems like the mystery has only served to further build the legend of Bobby Jones.

Art’s Concertina Bar in Milwaukee is a polka institution. Billed as the “only Concertina Bar in the U.S.A.,” the walls are lined with concertinas and memorabilia, there are live bands and dances every weekend, and the affable Art Altenburg presides over it all, posing for photos with tourists and squeezing out the occasional tune on the concertina.

Art’s been trying to sell his business, though, so he can spend more time with his ailing mother. After a long search, he’s finally found a buyer: Andy Kochanski is taking over later this month and, thankfully, will be keeping the music that Art’s place is known for alive. Art’s Concertina Bar will become Kochanski’s Concertina Beer Hall and Andy will even allow accordions in (Art had strict concertina-only rules):

“It’s open to people and musicians who just love polka music… I’m going to do as much as I can for the polka community.”

Meanwhile, the 78-year-old Art still has dreams of his own to pursue:

“I’ll probably go chasing women, do a little playing, and do a little traveling.”

Sounds like a plan to me! There’s a farewell party for Art planned for next Saturday night, October 13, on his last night in business. Get there early and roll out the barrel one more time with a polka legend.

Three years ago, the Irish government banned smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants. According to a recent survey, the ban has not only improved public health, but it’s also helped accordions as well. Dr. John Garvey of St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin talked to local accordion cleaning and repair specialists to learn how smoking affects accordions.

“Those interviewed noted that, when opened, accordions that had been played in smoke-filled rooms emitted a strong cigarette odor. Deposits of soot-like dirt were also found inside the instruments. One worker interviewed said that, in some cases, enough dirt could be deposited in the instrument to affect the pitch.

All interviewees said that both the cigarette smell from accordions and the dirt residue inside had improved since the smoking ban.”

Yet another reason to kick the habit!

Yesterday, the New York Times ended their TimesSelect program and opened up the previously subscription-only portions of their website to anyone. This means free access to all news and op-ed columns, as well as archives from 1987 to the present, and from 1851 to 1922. I love looking through old newspapers, so those early archives made me wonder: what were people writing about accordions back in the late 19th century?

Turns out that accordion jokes are nothing new. In an editorial titled “The Concertina” (August 18, 1877), the author rails against this “so-called musical instrument which is variously known as the accordion or concertina” as the “favorite instrument of the idle and depraved.” He goes on to compare its sound to the screams of a squeezed cat.

Another piece, “A Noble Act” (May 18, 1885), is a fictional account of three “public-spirited young men” who grab an “habitual and reckless accordion player” off the street and punish him by forcing him to listen to his own accordion.

“They have struck a lasting blow at the crime of accordion playing, and a service such as this can hardly be overestimated.”

Fortunately, accordion players are a resilient bunch; we survived that early resistance, the Lawrence Welk era, and Urkel from Family Matters. Like it or not, we’re here to stay!

The 60th annual Coupe Mondiale accordion competition, held last week outside Washington, DC, was a huge success. In addition to the competition itself, there were nightly accordion concerts at the Kennedy Center, a one-of-a-kind massed accordion band performance of “The Stars and Stripes Forever” on the steps of the US Capitol (written up in the Washington Post), and countless opportunities for accordion lovers from around the world to hear amazing music and share the squeezebox love.

Here’s a list of this year’s winners by category:

Alexander Sevastian (Canada)

Coupe Mondiale

Ruslan Osipov (Russia)

Junior Coupe Mondiale

Jérémie Buirette (France)

International Competition for Virtuoso Entertainment Music

Eric Allard-Jacquin (France)

Junior International Competition for Virtuoso Entertainment Music

Stanislav Jusufovic (Serbia)

International Competition for Piano Accordion

Art of Accordion Quintet (Germany)

International Competition for Ensemble Music

Betty Jo Simon (Overland Park, Kansas)

Maddalena Belfiore Entertainment Competition for Female Accordionists

You can watch the winners concert online at the Kennedy Center: Millennium Stage website. The performances are (as you might expect) phenomenal.

Thanks to Mara Cherkasky of the Washington Metropolitan Accordion Society for keeping us up to date on all Coupe-related activities last week.