Lots of accordion happenings on the calendar this week — especially if you’re a fan of Cajun/zydeco music:
Mardi Gras (Tuesday in various locations) Tomorrow is Mardi Gras (aka “Fat Tuesday”) and the zydeco bands are out in full force across the country. Buckwheat Zydeco, Rosie Ledet, and CJ Chenier are just a few of the folks playing tomorrow. Check our Cajun/zydeco events page for more.
Beale Street Zydeco Festival (Saturday/Sunday in Memphis, TN) Didn’t get enough zydeco on Tuesday? This weekend, Beale Street turns into Bourbon Street as zydeco heavyweights like Keith Frank, Terrance Simien, and Roy Carrier invade Memphis.
Withrow Winter Wonderland Polka Dance (Sunday in Hugo, MN) It’s never too cold to polka! This once-in-a-lifetime event features Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones and the long-awaited reunion of the Dobosenski Brothers and the Cavaliers. The Dobosenski Brothers and the Cavaliers were one of the hot Minnesota polka bands of the 70s and 80s and haven’t played together in 25 years!
I’ve also added some often-requested features to the calendar itself. You can now search for events in your area — just type in your city and state and we’ll show you what we have listed. Also, when you’re looking at an event listing, we’ll show you other upcoming events in the same area. Check it out.
Of course, if you don’t find any events in your area or, worse, you know about an event but don’t see it on our calendar… tell us about it!
The ad wizards at Oscar Meyer recently held a nationwide contest to find a new voice for their “I wish I was an Oscar Mayer wiener…” jingle. After sifting through thousands of entries and public voting on twenty finalists, they finally have five winners — one of whom is eight-year-old zydeco accordion prodigy, Guyland Leday. We should see a TV commercial with Guyland and his accordion sometime later this year. In the meantime, you can watch Guyland’s winning performance on the Oscar Meyer website.
“We don’t need no education… we don’t need no thought control…” But what we do need are more bands like Polka Floyd, which plays — you guessed it — polka-style covers of Pink Floyd songs. There’s a rough clip of “Another Brick in the Wall” up on their MySpace page and it’s actually not half-bad. Polka fans might recognize two of the band’s members (accordionist Eric Hite and drummer Frank Dramczyk) from Eddie Biegaj’s Crusade.
If you’re in the Toledo area and have always wanted to hear Dark Side of the Moon with a 2/4 beat, you can catch Polka Floyd tonight at Mickey Finn’s Pub.
“Polka got me to the party, but now I want to get out there and start making music with and for people who think and create beyond the safety net of pigeonholing… Creatively, this experience is going to be the best thing that ever happened to me, and I’m excited to be moving on to bigger and better things in my career.”
Makes sense to me — Party Dress was closer to country than polka and I think she has the talent and drive to be successful in any genre (okay, opera might be a stretch). As long she keeps playing that button box, we’ll be listening!
Update: LynnMarie has posted a personal letter to her fans and friends in the polka community in which she discusses her future plans.
Tune into San Francisco radio station KFOG 104.5 tomorrow morning around 6:50am, and you should hear SF accordionist Tom Torriglia playing some romantic tunes on Dave Morey’s morning show. If you’re outside the Bay Area, you can listen online at KFOG.com.
Tom was also featured recently on a Canadian TV show called Careers TV, where they chronicled his passion for playing and promoting the accordion. (Look for episode #06-808 on their site for more info.) Maybe one of our Canadian readers can upload a clip to YouTube…
What’s happening in the accordion world this week?
Main Squeeze Accordion Orchestra (Wednesday in New York, NY) What could be more romantic than spending Valentine’s Day with New York City’s only all-female, all-accordion orchestra? (Note: we cannot be held responsible if you’re swept off your feet by a winsome lass toting a Hohner.)
Mardi Gras Ball (Saturday in Cranston, RI) Mardi Gras isn’t until next Tuesday, but why wait to start partying? This 15th Annual Cajun & Zydeco Mardi Gras Ball (located just outside Providence) features Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, CJ Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band, and the Creole Cowboys.
21 Accordion Salute to Merv Conn (Sunday in Silver Springs, MD) Watch the Washington-area premiere of The Legend of Merv Conn, a documentary tribute to this local accordionist’s life and work. Then stay and participate in the 21-accordion salute honoring his 87th birthday. Save room for birthday cake! (Update: The Washington Post has an article on Merv’s big day.)
Check our calendar for more accordion happenings in your neighborhood. And, as always, let us know if we’re missing any events in your area.
Another year, another “Best Polka Album” award for Jimmy Sturr, who won his 16th Grammy at tonight’s Grammy Awards. Mexican singer/accordionist Julieta Venegas took home “Best Latin Album” for Limon y Sal.
It’s probably because I watched The Sting too many times while growing up, but Scott Joplin’s ragtime classic “The Entertainer” was the song that inspired me to learn to play the piano. (Years later, it’s still the only song, besides “Chopsticks”, that I can play from memory.) I fumble around with accordion renditions occasionally, but none quite like these two I found on YouTube.
The first is an all-accordion orchestra from the Netherlands called Accordeonola. I don’t know about you, but there’s something about ten or more accordionists playing together that restores my faith in humanity.
And for something completely different, the second clip is a 30-second commercial for a Japanese pachinko chain. It features one-man band Mark Di Giuseppe (“The Straniero”) playing the Stranierofono, a combination accordion/bass clarinet that he invented.
Posted February 10th, 2007 in Bizarro!, Videos · Comments off
Today, we wrap up our look at the “Best Polka Album” nominees with another Chicago polka legend, Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones. We profiled the Blazonczyks last month, discussing the challenges that Eddie Jr. has faced since taking the reigns from his father.
Despite those challenges, the Versatones have remained one polka’s top bands. Formed in 1963 by Eddie Sr., the six-piece Versatones helped modernize polka by incorporating rock, country/western, Cajun, and Tex-Mex influences. Now with “Junior” handling the vocals and playing concertina, the band continues to promote polka through a rigorous schedule of touring and recording.
Batteries Not Included is the 18th Grammy-nominated album for Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones; they won once, back in 1987, but shared that award with (guess who?) Jimmy Sturr. If you enjoy uptempo, Chicago-style polka, this album won’t disappoint. Even traditional waltzes like “Chlopak” and “In the Oak Grove” are played at a pretty fast clip. And goofy numbers like “The Wife You Save” and “My Misery” show off Blazonczyk’s sense of humor.
Polka definitely isn’t the only genre where you can find Grammy-nominated accordionists. Rolling Stone has a brief interview with one of those nominees: Weird Al Yankovic, who’s up for “Best Comedy Album” and “Best Surround Sound Album” for Straight Outta Lynwood. Even he still gets excited about the Grammys:
“It’s hard to compete with the first time you win a Grammy because after that, you can legally affix the phrase “Grammy Award-winning” to the front of your name. But trust me, it never gets old. I promise to be extremely excited every single time I ever win a Grammy.”
This week, Rolling Stone also wrote about another one of our favorite accordion-toting artists — DeVotchKa. They’re nominated for their work on the soundtrack to the Oscar-nominated film Little Miss Sunshine.
Another year, another “Best Polka Album” award for 