Lenny Gomulka is no stranger to the Grammys, having racked up 12 nominations (but no wins) since the award’s creation in 1986. A talented multi-instrumentalist (trumpet, clarinet, and sax), Gomulka grew up playing with the biggest names in Chicago polka: Marion Lush, Li’l Wally, and Eddie Blazonczyk.
In 1980, Gomulka left Blazonczyk’s Versatones and started his own band, Chicago Push. Their style is heavily influenced by the Polish-style polka music that Gomulka grew up with, but with modern arrangements and plenty of Gomulka-penned originals. After moving to New England in 1990, Gomulka wasted no time spreading the polka gospel there; he even wrote the official Massachusetts state polka (“Say Hello To Someone In Massachusetts”).
As Sweet as Candy is a textbook example of the “Push style”: tight horns, driving rhythms, and enough bellows shaking to make you think there’s an earthquake. The album alternates between traditional waltzes and obereks (some, like “Hop Ciuk Oberek”, are sung in Polish) and lively originals like “We’re Gonna Jam” and “She’s Got Nothin’ On You.” Nick Koryluk and Matthew Rosinski handle the concertina and accordion duties admirably.
But will it be enough to give Lenny Gomulka and Chicago Push their first Grammy? We’ll find out on Sunday.
The Grammy Awards are Sunday, so this week we’re looking at the five nominees for “Best Polka Album.”
The first (and only) woman ever to be nominated in the polka category, LynnMarie Rink grew up in a Slovenian community in Cleveland, listening to her father play accordion at the Slovenian National Home. Now based in Nashville, LynnMarie aims to bring polkas to a new generation, playing high-energy shows that fuse traditional polka with modern rock and country rhythms. And, as her album cover shows, she’s easily the sexiest nominee in this year’s field (sorry Mr. Sturr).
Party Dress is LynnMarie’s fourth Grammy-nominated album and, like her previous efforts, it mixes originals with covers ranging from “Blue Moon” to The Who’s “Squeeze Box.” The Carol Lee Singers (of Grand Ole Opry fame) lend their voices to a cover of jazz hit “Happy Feet” and Ray Benson (of Asleep at the Wheel) guests on LynnMarie’s original “Polka Till the Cows Come Home.” Inspired by her recent, highly-successful tour of Slovenia, the album also includes three tracks influenced by the current direction of polka music in Europe (think Atomik Harmonik, but without the babes in hard-hats).
Party Dress is an incredibly fun, bouncy album that’s both a little bit Nashville and a little bit Cleveland. LynnMarie’s spunky personality shines throughout, and she’s one heck of a button-box player, too. With her energy and drive, I can’t imagine a better spokeswoman for the next generation of polka.
One of my co-workers showed me a giant photo of accordionist Rob Curto in this week’s San Francisco Bay Guardian. Turns out his band, Forró for All, will be at the Elbo Room in San Francisco next week.
The group is dedicated to forró, the dance/party music of Northeast Brazil, and features some of New York and Brazil’s most talented musicians. Three instruments make up the core of a traditional forró ensemble: accordion, zabumba (a large bass drum carried and played with a mallet and stick), and triangle. Driven by the rhythm of the accordion, it almost sounds like a Brazilian version of zydeco.
Forró for All will be performing tomorrow night as part of the accordion-themed series “Compressing the World” at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. Then they’ll head up to the Bay Area for shows in Santa Cruz, Sunnyvale, and San Francisco. While you’re waiting for them to visit your town, here’s a track from their self-titled debut:
Like many polka bands, the Kielbasa Kings play a mix of polkas, waltzes, and obereks, but they also throw in an occasional traditional Polish tune (sung in Polish). What really caught my attention, though, were their polka-fied covers of alt-rock songs by artists like Barenaked Ladies and Violent Femmes. Check out their waltzing cover of Elvis Costello’s classic “Alison”; some might consider it blasphemy, but I think their aim is true.
There was a fascinating profile of polka bandleader Eddie Blazonczyk Jr. in the Chicago Tribune earlier this week. For more than forty years, Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones have been the gold standard of Chicago polka bands. Eddie Blazoncyzk Sr. was a pioneer of the Chicago style, evolving the sound and promoting it around the world.
But after he suffered a stroke in 2002, the torch was passed to his son, Eddie Blazonczyk Jr., who had been playing concertina with the Versatones since the 1989. With “Junior” at the helm, the band continues to record and tour relentlessly, but the polka crowds have shrunk over the years and it’s difficult for even a top band like the Versatones to make a living. And for Eddie Jr.’s wife, Cheryl, it’s especially hard raising a family with a husband who’s always on the road:
“I’m impressed that he can play so well, but I always ask Eddie, ‘What’s the difference between a musician and a pizza? A pizza can feed a family of four.'”
Ouch. On top of all this, everytime he performs, Eddie Jr. must face inevitable comparisons to one of polka’s living legends: his own father. But Eddie Jr. carries the legacy proudly, and the Versatones’ latest record, Batteries Not Included recently earned a Grammy nomination (their 18th overall) for Best Polka Album. We’ll be reviewing that album — along with the other Grammy nominees — over the next few weeks.
Posted January 5th, 2007 in Polka, Profiles · Comments off
How can you go wrong with a band that claims to “make music to bake pies by”? After all, what household couldn’t use more pie-baking music?
Sure enough, you can practically smell the apple pie on the window sill when you’re listening to Yard Sale — an all-female country/folk trio from Oakland. Accordionist Melanie de Giovanni, bassist Jill Olson, and guitarist Denise Funari each take turns writing and singing on the band’s debut album, Everything’s a Dollar. Nothing fancy here — just honest, heartfelt lyrics, great harmonies, and a laid-back vibe that begs you to put your feet up and crack open a beer.
“I’m coherent in my art. I tell my story with the accordion.” Those are the words of legendary Brazilian accordionist/composer Sivuca, who passed away last week.
Born Severino Dias de Oliveira in 1930, Sivuca played and composed in a number of genres, including forró, bossa nova, folk, and jazz. Over the course of his lengthy career, he collaborated with musicians from around the globe — artists ranging from Harry Belafonte to South African singer Miriam Makeba to jazz harmonica player Toots Thielemans.
Here’s a video clip of Sivuca performing his forró classic “Feira de Mangaio” with samba singer Clara Nunes. If your hips don’t move even a tiny bit while watching this clip, seek professional help.
A few weeks ago, the Corvallis (OR) Gazette-Times ran a seemingly innocuous profile of accordionist Gene “The Polka King” Sadowsky, leader of the Little Bohemian Band. In the piece, Sadowsky boasted about his band’s recent appearance on the “Big Joe Polka Show”, their packed touring schedule, and his brand-new, $12,500 Diamond accordion. Nothing too controversial, right?
This past Friday, however, the paper printed a follow-up in which a former bandmate of Sadowsky’s — Richard Kadrmas of the R-K Polka Band — stakes his own claim to the Oregon polka crown. Kadrmas claims Sadowsky “only knows how to play 10 or 15 songs… [and is] just doing it to make a buck,” and has even challenged him to an accordion duel.
Now I like a good feud as much as anyone, but come on — these guys are old enough to know better. Isn’t the Willamette Valley big enough for two polka kings?
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:
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”:
Lenny Gomulka is no stranger to the Grammys, having racked up 12 nominations (but no wins) since the award’s creation in 1986. A talented multi-instrumentalist (trumpet, clarinet, and sax), Gomulka grew up playing with the biggest names in Chicago polka: Marion Lush, Li’l Wally, and Eddie Blazonczyk.
