Further proof that the accordion has never met a genre it didn’t like: this clip of the Carter Sisters performing “My Baby Don’t Love Me No More” features sister Helen on accordion. The accordion actually has a long history in country music, dating back to “Tennessee Waltz” author Pee Wee King, Vic Willis (played with Hank Williams Sr.), and Marion Martin (played with Doc Williams’ Border Riders).
Russia’s Got Talent: Maksim Tokaev
Russia Today has an inspiring piece on 14-year-old accordion player Maksim Tokaev, who won 1st prize on the Russian TV talent show “Minute of Glory” earlier this year. Since winning the million ruble prize (about $39,000 US), Maksim now has his own fan club, has enrolled in a local music college, and has used his prize money to help repair his family’s home. Maksim has been playing since he was five and, as this video shows, already knows how to work a crowd.
Accordion How-To Videos
Expert Village bills itself as the “world’s largest how-to video site,” but even I was surprised to find their series on learning to play the accordion. The 15-part series (each part is about 3 minutes) is led by Brett Larsen, a middle-school teacher who plays in the Santa Barbara band, Spencer the Gardener. The series is very basic — “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is one of the tunes taught — but you can’t beat the price (free). Here’s a clip:
If you’re interested in more advanced video lessons for the diatonic accordion, check out our previous post on the Italian Accordion Academy online.
Son of a Contino: Pete Contino
The apple never falls far from the tree… or accordion, I guess. While poking around YouTube the other day, I stumbled across a video of the Pete Contino Band. That’s right: Pete is the son of Mr. “Lady of Spain” himself, Dick Contino. Pete toured as a drummer with his father for nearly fifteen years, but now plays accordion with his own band in a style he describes as “acoustic blues with a touch of zydeco.” After putting out his first solo album (Push It) in 2005, Pete has a collaboration with his father coming out later this year. Simply called Contino, the new album features a mix of jazz, blues, rock, latin and more.
Based in Las Vegas, Pete and his band often play at Brendan’s Irish Pub, located at the Orleans Hotel and Casino. Here’s a live clip of the Pete Contino Band doing “Hot Tamale Baby”:
Monsters of Accordion Wrapup
It isn’t every day you get to see five of North America’s hottest singer/songwriter/accordionists in one place, but we were lucky enough to do so last night at 12 Galaxies in San Francisco as the Monsters of Accordion tour rolled into town. The crowd was incredible — my amateur guesstimating skills say around 300 people — including a handful of Let’s Polka readers who came up and introduced themselves throughout the night (thanks for coming!).
The show kicked off with Geoff Berner whose “Canadian klezmer drinking songs” had the crowd singing along from the start. In between songs, he told stories of his great-grandfather’s move to Saskatchewan, incompetent French generals of the 1930s, and everything in-between. By contrast, Duckmandu (Aaron Seeman) was all-business, storming through punk covers, country songs, and originals from his new album, Shut the Duck Up and Play Accordion. He closed with his always-popular “flaming hat” rendition of “Highway to Hell.”
As soon as Corn Mo hit the stage, one of my friends turned and asked “Is this guy the love child of Meatloaf and Freddie Mercury?” His show-stopping performance of “We Are the Champions” did little to dispute that hypothesis and Corn Mo had the crowd eating out of his hand for his entire set. (Anna declared him “Best in Show” for the night.) Each show on the Monsters tour has featured a special guest and, after Corn Mo, we were treated to a rare set by the Bay Area’s own Mark Growden. (Mark wins the award for most drool-worthy accordion — what appeared to be a chromatic Bugari.)
Finally, the man who organized it all — Jason Webley — took the stage and whipped the crowd into a frenzy with nonstop sing-a-longs and even a cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” thrown in for good measure. He was floored by the passionate, accordion-loving crowd and remarked that “the tides are changing… in three or four years, people are going to be embarrassed to admit they took guitar lessons as a kid.” The show closed with all five accordionists onstage performing (or just drinking along to) Webley’s “Drinking Song” as the crowd spun in circles and headed out into the cool San Francisco night.
It was a fantastic event and, if you’re in the Bay Area tonight, be sure to catch the last show of the tour over at Smythe’s Accordion Center in Oakland. This is absolutely a can’t-miss, must-see show. Even if you’re up in Cotati today (we’re headed there now), you can still make it down in time for the Monsters show.
For those who couldn’t be there last night, here’s a video I recorded of Corn Mo performing “We Are the Champions”:
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Frank Marocco, Hollywood Accordionist
Anna and I recently saw the new Disney-Pixar film Ratatouille (two thumbs up!) and we came away big fans of Michael Giacchino’s soundtrack, particularly for its liberal use of the accordion. (As you might expect from a film set in Paris.) But who was squeezing the bellows as Remy and his buddies took over the kitchen at Gusteau’s? Sure enough, it was the hardest-working accordionist in Hollywood, Frank Marocco.
Frank Marocco grew up just outside of Chicago (Waukegan) and started playing the accordion when he was only seven years old. By the 1950s, he had formed his own trio and played the hotel and club circuit around Las Vegas and Palm Springs before moving to Los Angeles. There, he played with the Les Brown Band, joined Bob Hope on countless tours overseas, and began his career as a highly sought-after session musician. His hundreds of credits range from the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds to the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Odds are, if you hear an accordion in a movie, TV show, or commercial — it’s Frank Marocco.
One of Marocco’s hallmarks has always been his versatility. Jazz, classical, latin… regardless of the genre, he always plays flawlessly and passionately. Here’s a video clip of Marocco performing his own arrangement of Astor Piazzola’s classic tango, “Oblivion”:
Gaucho Music from Brazil
If you enjoy the great Brazilian accordionist Renato Borghetti, check out this video of Firmino Tebaldi playing “Missioneiro” by the legendary “gaiteiro,” Antônio Soares de Oliveira (“Tio Bilia”). When most people think of Brazilian music, they think samba, but this is very different — traditional gaucho music from southern Brazil, in the Rio Grande do Sul region near the border with Argentina.
(Thanks, Chris!)
What You Missed In Vegas
What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas. I found this video of 15-year-old Gary Blair Jr. performing Monti’s Czardas at the Las Vegas International Accordion Convention last week. The accordion is in Gary’s blood — his father is a former UK accordion champion and his grandfather ran the Jimmy Blair Accordion School in Glasgow, Scotland. As you can see from the video, Gary Jr. isn’t half bad himself…
Murl Allen Sanders’ Accordion Concerto #2
There aren’t nearly enough classical works written for accordion these days, but Seattle accordionist Murl Allen Sanders is changing that. An accordionist, pianist, composer, and teacher, Sanders has worked with a variety of artists ranging from Chuck Berry to the Von Trapp Children. His Accordion Concerto #1 had a world premiere in June 2003 with Orchestra Seattle.
Supported by a grant from the City of Seattle’s Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Sanders recently completed his Accordion Concerto #2, which he performed with Orchestra Seattle under the direction of George Shangrow. Here’s one movement — “Andante” — from that performance:
My Big Fat Accordion Wedding
Here’s the feel-good accordion story of the year: Toronto’s own “Accordion Guy”, Joey deVilla, answered a Craigslist ad from a couple who needed witnesses at their Toronto City Hall wedding ceremony. The result is a heartwarming tale of love, accordions, and the kindness of strangers — with a sweet solo accordion rendition of Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You” (see video) as the soundtrack.
Amidst all the coverage this story has gotten in blogs over the past couple days, I really like this inspirational quote that Joey posted on Metafilter:
“I would suggest that all of you find your ‘accordion’ — that thing that makes you try out life’s little detours — and use it to practice your own random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty. The rewards are astonishing.”
Great advice — even for those of us whose ‘accordion’ is, well, an accordion.