• KPBS > Jeffrey Broussard and the Creole Cowboys Perform in Studio
  Listen to an in-studio performance and interview by Jeffrey Broussard and the Creole Cowboys, from KPBS public radio in San Diego. They’re playing at the Gator By The Bay festival in San Diego this weekend.
• MySA.com: Annual Music Festival Returns To Its Roots
  Juan Tejada, curator of this weekend’s Tejano Conjunto Festival in San Antonio, talks about this year’s incredible lineup which showcases “the six distinctive styles in the evolution of conjunto.”

Street Band, uploaded by Fhoys

Love this photo of a street band busking in Madrid with not one, not two, but three accordionists. We definitely need some groups like this roaming the streets here in the US…

Every day, I come across interesting accordion links — to bands, videos, photos, etc. — that I don’t have time to work into full-blown articles. Instead of hoarding these links (and then forgetting about them), I’m going to start posting them daily as “Quick Links”:

• Picture Show: NOLA Jazz & Heritage Festival
  Photos of last weekend’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, including shots of Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas and — my favorite new band name — Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship?
• Review of “It’s Happiness: A Polka Documentary”
  Nice review of the “It’s Happiness” showing at the Wisconsin Film Festival last month. The screening was followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and an impromptu dance.
• YouTube: Frankie Yankovic interview on the Tonight Show
  Great clip of two legends together: Frankie Yankovic interviewed by Johnny Carson. This appears to be from 1986 since they’re discussing the addition of the polka category at the Grammys.

Let me know if you have any cool accordion-related links to share!

Later this month, thousands of accordionists will head to Innsbruck, Austria for the 9th annual World Music Festival. This year’s festival focuses on the accordion and features performances from over 300 accordion orchestras and ensembles from around the world. Unfortunately, the only information I could find was either in German or badly-translated English (“Innsbruck will be overflowed!”), but there will also be a musical revue (written especially for the festival) on the accordion’s role in world music.

There was a great AP article today on accordions at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, calling accordions at the festival “popular, prolific and downright sexy.” Just listen to one female festival-goer’s description of Buckwheat Zydeco:

“He is so sexy… There is just something about a guy and a squeezebox.”

I swear, I did not make that quote up. The article pointed out that accordions weren’t confined to the cajun/zydeco stage, but that “they were showing up this year on the big stages and even in some of the big bands”, noting performances by Calexico and the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars. Sounds like this accordion thing might just be catching on…

Whether your Cinco de Mayo plans involve joining the crowds at a local festival or simply enjoying a Corona at home, you’ll need a suitable soundtrack. Might I suggest something from the catalog of norteño accordion legend, Ramón Ayala?

Known as “El Rey del Acordeon”, Ayala is a superstar on both sides of the border and through his distinctive accordion playing and songwriting, has set the standard for norteño music. In his forty year career, he has led two of norteño’s most successful conjuntos: first, Los Relampagos Del Norte (“Lightning Bolts of the North”) with singer Cornelio Reyna, and his current group, Los Bravos del Norte.

Here’s a classic track off his greatest hits collection, Antologia de un Rey:

Ramon Ayala: Mi Piquito de Oro (MP3 download)

I like to think of The Big Joe Polka Show as polka’s answer to American Bandstand. Just replace the TV studio with a large plywood dance floor in an Elk’s Lodge, the awkward teens with polka dancing seniors, and Dick Clark with the charming “Big Joe” Siedlik and his loud, accordion-patterned vests.

For more than 25 years, Big Joe was a polka radio king, spinning a popular mix of Polish, Czech and German polka records for listeners in the Midwest. After retiring from radio, he moved to television and now showcases live polka bands and dancers on his program which airs nationwide on RFD-TV, “Rural America’s Most Important Network.”

Later this month, Big Joe will film a series of shows at the RFD-TV Theater in Branson, Missouri. It’s a big deal for the bands chosen to perform and they’re coming from all over the country — the Polka Chips from Alaska, Smilin’ Scandinavians from Washington, Phocus from Buffalo, and many more.

One of polka’s biggest promoters, Big Joe likes to say that “polka tots make polka teens, and polka teens make adult human beings.” This clip is proof of that, as Big Joe welcomes (and teases) the younger members of Colorado’s Polka Nuts:

Not to get married — sorry to get your hopes up — but to play for a wedding dinner. Kristine is looking for an accordionist to play some “old Italian songs” after her wedding on the evening of May 27. The festivities will be held outdoors at a small vineyard in Ione, CA (outside Sacramento). I know it’s short notice but if you can help, email her at steelerchick1 at hotmail and save us some cake.

In their roundup of the best and worst from last weekend’s Coachella Festival, the Press-Enterprise declares the accordion the festival’s “best offbeat instrument,” noting that it’s “not just for polka bands anymore.” They cite accordion-fueled performances by some of our favorite artists, including Julieta Venegas, Gogol Bordello, and the Decemberists. (Though no mention of Arcade Fire, another Coachella band with a penchant for accordions.)

[Found via TDA’s Wall of Wheeze]