Magnifico is a heartwarming tale of Mariangela, the 11-year-old daughter of Italian immigrants living in Canada in 1939. Mariangela wants to learn piano (she envies her cousin’s piano) but her family can not afford one. Instead, Nonna surprises her with an accordion. Mariangela, disappointed, doesn’t try very hard at first. Her accordion teacher, Gioseff, tries everything he can to inspire her: playing records, telling stories, protecting her from the neighborhood bully, but nothing seems to work. Throughout the story we see how her family and friends persevere in difficult situations, and through these situations, Mariangela figures out what she must do to succeed.

This book is an excellent story of immigrant life, perseverance, and how music can bring people together. It is recommended for children in grades 3-6, but I would recommend it for accordion lovers of all ages.

Tom Torriglia, accordionist for retro Italiano band Bella Ciao, just returned from a trip to Castelfidardo, Italy, the famous center of the Italian accordion industry. He passed along these tips for anyone making a pilgrimage to the area:

“I just returned from Mecca(castel)fidardo and offer up the following information for fellow travelers.

Castelfidardo is shut tight as bellows on both Saturday and Sunday.

I stayed at the 3-star La Fonte hotel in Osimo. It was 48€ per night and included continental breakfast. The room was large, very clean and had twin beds. There is a lounge/bar area where you can hang out. They also offer free parking.

In Castelfidardo, I met Dan from Denver who was staying at the only pensione in Castelfidardo and he said he was paying 40€ per night with no breakfast.

Osimo is a lot bigger than Castelfidardo and there is a real nightlife. I mostly hung out at the Silicon bar, a very popular place. Osimo is about 15 minutes from Castelfidardo by car.

In Osimo, there is a telephone place where you can call the US for 5 centesimi per minute — so 1€ gets you 20 minutes. It’s open late.

There’s an internet point in Castelfidardo called Media Place. Kind of down the hill a bit from the center of town. I think it’s on Aligheri. 1€ got me 20 minutes online.

I stopped at the accessories’ place, I think it’s called Carini, located at the bottom of the long flight of steps. There is no sign. It’s next to a little car wash. I got some nice straps with a backstrap included for 20€. Of course, there’s always Italcinte for straps.

The banks didn’t take travelers’ checks, but you could convert cash. There’s plenty of ATMs (bancomats) from which to get cash anytime.

Happy Traveling!”

Anna and I are planning to visit Castelfidardo next spring, so these tips are a big help. Thanks Tom!

Ever wonder how Hohner accordions are made? Peter Unbehauen has posted a fantastic photo tour of the Hohner accordion factory in Trossingen, Germany. If your Hohner was “made in Germany” — very likely if it’s a Gola, Morino, Genius, Ventura, or Corona Classic — it came from this factory. It’s a really fascinating look at the production process as craftsmen install reeds, wax reed blocks, and tune accordions before they’re shipped to players worldwide.

I highly recommend poking around Peter’s site — it’s full of fascinating and unique accordion information. For instance, he has some great photos of the old Hohner factory buildings in Trossingen, as well as the workshop of master tuner and builder Claudio Beltrami.

[Found via the Reyes Accordions forum]

Check out this excellent video of the late, great Gelso Pellegrini playing William Tell on the accordion. Thanks to Roberto for posting the video on YouTube!

Want a glimpse into the creative process of Those Darn Accordions? TDA tunesmith Paul Rogers is posting demos of songs he’s written for TDA‘s next album and inviting fans to chime in with their thoughts. First up is a catchy little number called “Mr. Saggy Butt” (inspired by a trip to the mall). Unfortunately, Paul creates his demos with a synthesizer and drum machine — not accordion — so you’ll just have to imagine how the accordion parts might eventually sound. Keep checking in over the next month or so as Paul posts more new songs.

Forget watching football and falling asleep on the couch; I’d rather spend my turkey day at Tony Petkovsek’s Thanksgiving Polka Party.

A lifelong promoter of Cleveland-Slovenian music, Tony Petkovsek and his Thanksgiving weekend polka events have been drawing thousands to Cleveland for over 40 years. Tony also hosts the longest running daily polka radio show in America (45 years!), currently heard on WELW-1330AM in Cleveland and online at 247PolkaHeaven.com.

This year’s Thanksgiving Polka Party runs Thursday through Saturday and features a cornucopia of Cleveland-style polka bands, including the Joey Tomsick Orchestra, the Mike Schneider Band, the Eddie Rodick Orchestra, and many more. Accordion legends Walter Ostanek and Joey Miskulin will also make appearances. The weekend is capped off by the 19th Annual Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony.

How to Play Rock ‘N’ Roll Accordion
uploaded by Jan TonnesenHere’s a blast from the past: this 1967 Palmer-Hughes accordion instruction book promises “all you need to know to play Rock ‘n’ Roll solos or play with a Rock ‘n’ Roll combo!” And if you put on 3-D glasses, you’ll discover the guy on the cover is actually playing “Paint It Black” backwards! Groovy!

Interestingly, this isn’t the only rock accordion lesson book out there. Palmer-Hughes has another book called Easy Rock ‘n’ Roll that appears to have first been published in the early 1960s. And with imaginative song titles like “Red Hot Rock”, “Soda Pop Rock”, “Juke Box Rock”, and “Injun Rock” (really!), it’s hard to see why more kids weren’t ditching their guitars for accordions. Shocking, really.

Still, I’m guessing Those Darn Accordions didn’t learn from either of these books…

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”:

A Hawk and a Hacksaw: Song for Joseph (MP3 download)

Bay Area accordionists, mark your calendars: Camp AccordionLand 2007 is set for August 10-12, 2007. Organized by East Bay accordion teacher Henri Ducharme, Camp AccordionLand is a weekend full of workshops, ensemble playing, and jam sessions at beautiful Tilden Park in Berkeley, California.

The camp welcomes accordionists of all skill levels and the workshops cover both technique and repertoire. Some of the workshops tentatively scheduled for 2007 include Cumbias, Tex-Mex, Greek Music, French Musette, Gypsy Music, Intermediate Bellows and Phrasing, Advanced Bass Technique, and much more. Next year’s camp will also include a number of activities geared towards kids; we gotta start ’em young!

Keep an eye on Henri’s site over the coming months as more details (including pricing) are finalized. Anna and I attended Camp AccordionLand this past August and had a fantastic time. We’ll definitely be back next year and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in a fun-filled weekend with fellow accordion enthusiasts.