Remember our post about last week’s attempt to set the Guinness World Record for fastest accordion player? Thanks to the Irish Post we’ve discovered that the accordionist was Irish button box virtuoso Liam O’Connor. Liam rose to fame as a featured musician with Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, and has also recorded three albums with vocalist Lisa Aherne.
According to his site, Liam set the record for “Fastest Fingers in the World” by playing an amazing 11.64 notes per second under the watchful eyes of Guinness judges. The record-breaking tune was the venerable classic, “Tico Tico”.
Unfortunately, Liam’s site doesn’t have any sound clips, so we can only wonder what his fast fingers sound like. Leave a comment if you know where we can find clips of Liam’s music online.
I don’t normally condone gangs — though I do enjoy the choreography of the Sharks and Jets — but I’ve finally found a gang I can fully support: the Alaska Button Box Gang.
Based in Anchorage, this dedicated group of button box enthusiasts performs regularly for non-profits and schools, as well as at the Anchorage Saturday Market, the library and other organizations and occasions. The gang has recorded three albums and their repertoire includes traditional Slovenian, German and Polish accordion music as well as songs written by members of the group. They also have occasional rumbles with a rival piano accordion gang from Juneau.
Fellow Alaskans should check the gang’s website for upcoming performances, while those of us in the lower 48 can look forward to their appearance at next summer’s SNPJ Slovenefest in Enon Valley, PA.
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…
The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles is running a concert series called “Compressing the World”, which showcases the accordion across a variety of cultures and musical styles. Finland’s Maria Kalaniemi (of Accordion Tribe fame) performed last month and future shows include Cambodian refugee Daran Kravanh, Argentina’s Dino Saluzzi, and Poland’s Motion Trio.
The next performance is this Wednesday and features string quartet Cuartetango, accompanied by world-renowned bandoneon player Hector Del Curto. Born in Buenos Aires, Del Curto has toured extensively as both a solo and chamber musician, performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and, in his native Argentina, was named “Best Bandoneon Player Under 25” when he was only 17. Now he leads his own ensemble, Eternal Tango. Fans of Astor Piazzolla’s tangos should definitely check out Hector’s work.
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.
A favorite of disgruntled English majors, indie rock critics, and chimney sweeps everywhere, the Decemberists just put out their fourth album, The Crane Wife. It’s a big milestone for the band as it marks their major-label debut on Capitol Records. Fortunately, they haven’t forsaken their unique musical landscapes and erudite storytelling for drum machines and songs about “My Humps.”
If anything, The Crane Wife is even more ambitious than previous Decemberists albums. Inspired by a Japanese folk tale, it runs the gamut from four-minute pop songs (“O Valencia!”) to twelve-minute prog rock epics exploring murder, abduction, and rape (“The Island”). And, of course, Jenny Conlee’s accordion makes a few appearances, most notably on “Summersong” and “Sons and Daughters”. It took a couple listens to win me over, but I’m really loving this album.
The Decemberists kick off their Fall tour — The Rout of the Patagons Tour 2006 — tomorrow night in Portland and will be in San Francisco and Los Angeles later this week. We saw them a couple years ago (with one of our favorite, non-accordion bands, the Long Winters) and they were fantastic, so grab tickets if you can.
What were you doing when you were two years old? Making mud pies? Eating crayons? Tormenting your parents? Guyton Leday of Opelousas, LA, was like a lot of kids his age, with one exception: he was learning to play accordion, zydeco-style.
As the great, great grandson of the late Delton Broussard, Guyland clearly has the zydeco spirit in his blood. By the time he was four, he was already onstage playing with Zydeco Force, which features his great uncle Jeffrey Broussard on accordion. Last night, Guyland played Carnegie Hall in New York with an all-star zydeco band of friends and family (including Terrance Simien) to promote the documentary.
The show premieres tonight on HBO at 7pm, but will air a number of times there (and on HBO Family) this month. So set your Tivo now!
Mexican singer/songwriter Julieta Venegas rose to fame with her unique brand of accordion rock, fueled by an expansive sound and powerful lyrics typically heard only in veteran artists. Lately, she’s been reinventing herself with a brighter pop sound that has widened her audience even more. She just received four Latin Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year for Limon y Sal and Record of the Year for “Me Voy”. This clever video for “Me Voy” also earned a Grammy nod:
Stepping into Nye’s Polonaise in Northeast Minneapolis on a Friday night is like stepping back in time. That’s partly due to the decor (dark, windowless, and untouched in forty years), the employees and regulars (many of whom also haven’t changed in that time), and the presence of Ruth Adams and the World’s Most Dangerous Polka Band. Every week, the band (led by Ruth on accordion) leads a packed house through standards like “The Barking Dog Polka”, “Too Fat Polka”, and “In Heaven There Is No Beer.”
First-time director Sonya Tormoen has made an endearing short documentary of the group, simply titled The World’s Most Dangerous Polka Band. Filmed in 2003, it captures the warm relationship between the band members: the septuagenarian founder Ruth, trumpeter Joe Hayden (called “The Kid” despite being in his 60s), and 88-year-old drummer Al Ophus who, despite his troubles keeping a steady beat, charms patrons and boasts of kissing “fifteen girls a night” (Al passed away a few months after filming wrapped).
The documentary is currently making the film festival rounds — including the Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival this weekend — and won the award for Best Documentary Short at the Fargo Film Festival in March. Check out a review in the Beachwood Reporter or watch the trailer below. If you like what you can see and hear (and can’t wait for it to come to your town), you can order a DVD directly from the filmmakers.
Remember our post about last week’s attempt to set the Guinness World Record for fastest accordion player? Thanks to the Irish Post we’ve discovered that the accordionist was Irish button box virtuoso Liam O’Connor. Liam rose to fame as a featured musician with Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, and has also recorded three albums with vocalist Lisa Aherne.
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 
What were you doing when you were two years old? Making mud pies? Eating crayons? Tormenting your parents?