We're no strangers to accordion concerts, festivals, or even hootenannys. But a symposium? Indeed, the first-ever "Thinking Outside the Squeeze Box" Accordion Symposium will take place this September 23-25 in Cedar Rapids, IA . The symposium will celebrate the way accordionists have been mixing traditional music with new approaches. There will be jam sessions, dance parties, and workshops on topics ranging from "Techniques of Rock Accordion" to "Stretching the Horizons of the Button Box". Presenters and performers are coming from across the country and include Paul Rogers (of Those Darn Accordions ), [...]
Longtime readers won't be surprised to hear it often takes us a while to write new posts for the site. Yet even when we're quiet, the accordion world continues to spin - there's always an article, a concert, or a great new band to share. That's why we're now using Twitter and Facebook to post shorter, more frequent updates in between posts on the main site. Use the buttons below to "follow" us on Twitter or "like" us on Facebook and get a steady stream of squeezin': Follow @letspolka [...]
Today's New York Times has an excellent article on Castelfidardo , the longtime center of the Italian accordion industry. From Paolo Soprani's shop in 1863 to the peak of accordion production in 1953 - 200,000 instruments built by 10,000 full-time workers - Castelfidardo has been inextricably linked to the accordion. There are still about 27 companies building accordions and parts there and, rather than compete with cheap models from Eastern Europe or Asia, they're focused on building fewer, but higher-quality instruments. "'Our accordions are like bespoke apparel,' said Francesca Pigini, a top [...]
With the iPad 2 coming out this week, it seemed like the perfect time to check out the latest iPad accordion apps. Believe it or not, this is actually a pretty active category - we found more than 25 apps for the iPad alone, and even more for the iPhone and iPod Touch. While tapping your iPad is no substitute for playing a real accordion, it can be a handy learning tool. Imagine practicing a few scales while watching TV on the couch, or plugging in headphones and mastering a tune after the family has [...]
Craigslist recently started producing a fun series of videos called Craigslist TV , which follows interesting posts from real Craigslist users and shows how their transactions unfold. In this episode , Robin wants to give away an old accordion... but there's a catch. Whoever claims it must first play the accordion at a dinner party for her family. When three prospective "buyers" show up - professional Gigi , underdog Michael, and quirky Renee - an "Accordion Idol" competition is held, complete with a panel of judges [...]
Twenty years ago, Jim Boggio and Clifton Buck-Kauffman had a crazy idea. What if they put on a music festival in the small Northern California town of Cotati? And what if it was centered around the accordion - which Boggio played - and incorporated a mix of musical styles like jazz, polka, Cajun, gypsy, etc. Would people be interested? Could they pull it off? The answer is yes. Twenty times yes, in fact. This weekend, as they have for twenty years, accordion lovers from across the country and beyond will descend [...]
It's a sad day for accordion and Tejano music fans; legendary accordionist Esteban "Steve" Jordan died last night of complications from liver cancer. He was 71 years old. Known as "El Parche" because of his eye patch, Jordan started his career in conjunto in the 1960s, but soon began exploring and incorporating other musical styles into his work - blending rock, Latin jazz, blues, and salsa with traditional polkas and rancheras. He pushed the limits of the diatonic accordion and wasn't afraid to experiment with new technology, using electronic devices [...]
Jan Lewan was living the American dream. After emigrating from Poland in the mid-1970s, Lewan was a hotel worker by day, but a one-man show at night, singing and entertaining at church halls and Polish club functions. He settled down in Hazleton, PA , and started performing polka music, eventually forming his own band, the Jan Lewan Orchestra. By the 1990s, Lewan was one of polka's biggest stars, drawing thousands of polka fans to concerts and festivals on the East Coast and earning a Grammy nomination in 1995 for Best Polka Album. [...]
Jan Lewan was living the American dream. After emigrating from Poland in the mid-1970s, Lewan was a hotel worker by day, but a one-man show at night, singing and entertaining at church halls and Polish club functions. He settled down in Hazleton, PA , and started performing polka music, eventually forming his own band, the Jan Lewan Orchestra. By the 1990s, Lewan was one of polka's biggest stars, drawing thousands of polka fans to concerts and festivals on the East Coast and earning a Grammy nomination in 1995 for Best [...]
I'll admit, I don't watch a lot of TV these days unless it's Sesame Street or baseball, so when a friend asked me if I watch Mad Men , I just shrugged and replied, "That's the one with the guys in suits, right?" When his jaw dropped and he said, "YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE ONE WITH THE ACCORDION?!?", I figured I should probably catch up. Indeed, in the third episode of season three - "My Old Kentucky Home" for anyone looking it up on DVD or iTunes - office [...]
For the first time in its 70 year history, the Accordionists and Teachers Guild is bringing its annual festival west of the Rockies to California. The celebration takes place this week - from July 21 to 25 - at the Hilton in Santa Clara, south of San Francisco and just down the road from Let's Polka headquarters. This year's festival includes concerts by featured artists and festival orchestras, numerous workshops (from "Bass Patterns" to "Understanding and Playing Balkan Rhythms"), and plenty of opportunities to rub bellows with some of the world's best [...]
We know, we know... things have been awfully quiet around here lately. We've been taking time off to focus on other projects - most notably, a new addition to the Let's Polka family named Paul Huckleberry. He was born about 10 days ago, weighing in at 8 pounds and 1 ounce, and has already shown a healthy interest in our accordion collection. Mom is doing great and big sister is warming up to the idea of having a little bother, er, brother. We'd like to apologize to everyone who's emailed us during the past [...]
Picking up an iPad this weekend? Fortunately, time spent with your shiny new toy doesn't have to mean time spent away from the accordion. Alex Komarov has developed a new app called Accordéon which allows you to simulate playing an accordion on your iPad. At $3.99 - plus at least $499 for an iPad - it's cheaper than a Roland FR-7 , but probably not as fun to play. See also: Play Accordion On Your iPhone
Ray Charles, Johnny Cash... if they deserved their own biopics, then why not one for the accordion-playing king of song parodies, "Weird" Al Yankovic? Check out this wish-it-were-true trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story , with appearances by Patton Oswalt and Mary Steenburgen (!?!). I love the scene where Al's dad finds the "Modern Accordion" and "Accordion Player" magazines with Walter Ostanek on the cover. If you want to see the real "Weird" Al, he's just announced summer concert dates - check his [...]
It's that time of year again: the start of the annual South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, and our accompanying roundup of a few of the accordion-toting artists performing this year. With hundreds of bands on more than eighty stages over five days, you're bound to find something you like. Pinata Protest We've been following this energetic, accordion-powered punk/conjunto band from San Antonio for a few years now. Fun, [...]
A friend recently visited the World of Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta and found this vintage advertisement with "internationally known musician and entertainer" Graham W. Jackson enjoying a bottled Coke while playing his accordion: world of coca-cola , uploaded by tinyprayers The son of a well-known singer, Jackson displayed musical talents at an early age and gave piano and organ concerts while still in high school. He was an active performer and bandleader throughout his lifetime, [...]
There aren't a ton of jazz accordionists and one could argue that, if it wasn't for Art Van Damme, there might not be any at all. Often called the father of jazz accordion, Van Damme was a pioneer who helped establish the accordion as a serious jazz instrument. He passed away on Monday at the age of 89. Heavily inspired by the recordings of the "King of Swing," Benny Goodman, Van Damme developed his early style by adapting Goodman's solos to the accordion. In 1945, he joined NBC Radio as a studio musician [...]
Last night's Grammy Awards weren't just about Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and the wonders of Auto-Tune. At the pre-telecast awards ceremony, a handful of accordionists picked up awards, too. Let's review the big winners: Best Cajun or Zydeco Album: Buckwheat Zydeco The Cajun/Zydeco category has only been around for three years, but it's already produced three different winners. Buckwheat Zydeco played organ for the legendary Clifton Chenier's band before picking up the accordion and, since Chenier's death in 1987, has become zydeco's best-known (and most mainstream) artist. [...]
Eyeing one of those fancy, but pricey, electronic accordions ? Why not build your own? Lee O'Donnell did just that . He took a toy melodeon (diatonic accordion), replaced the keys and reeds with electronics, and wrote some software to generate sounds with every push and pull. The result is a very capable electronic accordion, capable of producing everything from the sound of a traditional accordion to a retro 8-bit video game . (Found via Hack a Day )
As we learned while building our directory , accordion shops - particularly ones that only sell and repair accordions - are few and far between. So we were excited to run across this video promoting Main Squeeze , the colorful accordion shop on New York City's Lower East Side. Run by Walter Kuhr, the store offers new/used accordions, repairs and lessons, and is home base for the all-female Main Squeeze Accordion Orchestra . Main Squeeze even has its own line of accordions, most notably the Model [...]
Let's Polka - An Accordion Blog
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