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Blog Entries

Accordion Comics
Posted by on August 9, 2009
A few accordion comics. Click for the whole comic book. Always the punchline. (read more)
Great Online Resources for Learning Accordion
Posted by on August 8, 2009
This post from Lets Polka Blog is a great compilation of different sites from around the web that offer accordion instruction. Some are good paid resources and some are excellent free ones like this link to free online accordion lessons for beginners. & Duane Schnur’s online accordion lessons may be the next best thing. Recently retired, Duane taught accordion for nearly forty years and has… (read more)
Katzen Kapell
Posted by on August 7, 2009
Check out Swedish band Katzen Kapell. Composition, jazz, accordion, piano, violin, marimba, hand drums. Its all a beautiful intertwined work. I feel the music takes from baroque sources like Bach, bebop and Piazzolla, world and jazz rhythms, intertwines eastern folk melodies and very interesting arrangements full of thought and depth. I would love to see their iPods. An accurate description from their… (read more)
Oscar Wilde Opera from Bucks County Team
Posted by on August 5, 2009
Elegy for a Prince, a new opera recently staged by New York City Opera. Music by veteran Sergio Cervetti, libretto by Elizabeth Esris (both of Bucks County, PA.) This beautiful adaptation of Oscar Wildes story of a statue and a bird who become friends through the altruistic giving of the regal statue. A beautiful animation of this opera was just produced by artist Michael Stern. I have the video… (read more)
Free Bass Accordion Raffle
Posted by on August 2, 2009
The famous ACME Accordion School of Westmont, New Jersey is raffling off a beautiful Titano Free-Bass Accordion. Tickets are just $15 each, and only 250 tickets will be sold. The proceeds are to benefit the scholarship fund of the ACME Accordion School. What a sweet offer. For tickets and information call 856-854-6628. Download the pdf for more info. (read more)
The Conductor of the Muses
Posted by on July 30, 2009
Netflix gave me a short biography of Igor Stravinsky. Which is appropriate because Stravinsky stood 5223. When it was over I fired up the iTunes and found Stravinskys ballet Apollon Musagéte (Apollo, Conductor of the Muses.) Just gorgeous music, neo-classical and modern. Listen: (read more)
Be-Bop Accordion
Posted by on July 27, 2009
bebop: a style of jazz playing, fast eighth-note lines weaving through rapidly changing chord progressions, popular in the mid-late 40s. Think Charlie Parker. Exciting, intellectual, difficult. Be-Bop Buffet is a tremendous accordion duet of mostly bebop tunes. Simone Zanchini (Italy) on the left channel and Frank Marocco(America) on the right. Comping and playing time for each other as they rip… (read more)
I am composing for Cirque Ular
Posted by on July 24, 2009
What if you ran away with the circus . . . and regretted it? A mix of death-defying circus performances, live music, and original story, Cirque-ular tells the story of a bitter ringmaster whose career comes full circle when he meets an optimistic young juggler who dreams of joining his circus. The 2009 Fringe Fest show from David One Man Sideshow Smith. Features amazing juggling, fire eating, aerialist… (read more)
Watch Argentinian Musicians Avoid Swine Flu
Posted by on July 22, 2009
I came across this interesting upcoming web concert. Apparently Argentinas public performances have been shut down by Swine Flu. But singer Gicela Méndez Ribiero has come up with an online web concert to bring musicans and audience together. Thanks to the Brazilian website Chamamé: Due to the crisis in the music of Argentina, according to the epidemic of Influenza A, so that people are trapped… (read more)
Jean-Louis Matinier
Posted by on July 19, 2009
Fantastic, I cant get enough of listening to it. The debut album, Confluences, by French accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier. Fast-moving melodic lines and ostinato figures, shining melodies, brilliant ensemble work and some very nice improvising. You can listen to a bit of it here. Held together by a lacework of body-moving rhythms and made creative by real compositions which work with the rhythms… (read more)
Some of My Favorite Accordion Related Youtube Videos
Posted by on July 13, 2009
With so much amazing stuff out there on Youtube, I decided to select a few of my favorites. Bandoneonist/Composer player Dino Saluzzi in his kitchen. Brief French promotional film for Richard Gallianos Love Day recording. Shows Galliano, Rubalcaba and Haden in the studio. How do you make an exciting video of two men sitting playing accordion? Skip to the halfway point to see where it gets really… (read more)
Andras Schiff & Beethoven's Sonatas
Posted by on May 11, 2009
For anyone at all interested in an understanding of classical music, and in particular one of the following: the piano, musical form, harmony, orchestration, Beethoven, classical performance, I must recommend the free library of Andras Schiffs lectures upon all 32 of Beethovens piano sonatas. Andras Schiff is one of a handful of performers at this highest level of concertizing and interpretation.… (read more)
Maria Kalaniemi
Posted by on March 22, 2009
Beautiful. Elegant. Thoughtful. The Finnish accordionist Maria Kalaniemi produces exciting folk inspired music which stretches the bounds of traditional folk harmonies and melody shapes. One of my favorite albums of hers is Iho (click here to hear a taste). An album of rollicking and equally peaceful portraits of accordion and a beefed up string ensemble called Aldargaz. The arrangements, by equally… (read more)
Accordionist Richard Galliano
Posted by on March 7, 2009
In my explorations of Richard Gallianos (one of the foremost accordionists today) cannon, I came across his new record entitled Love Day. Which I was delighted to see has both Charlie Haden and Gonzalo Rubalcaba as personnel on it. Very exciting considering these are two of my favorite musicians! Also, I picked up Gallianos album Passatori. An amazingly lush, and exciting record. It goes right… (read more)