From the Saskatoon Star Phoenix comes this odd news item about a 66-year-old Regina man who shot his accordion during a domestic dispute. The article is short on details, but he was described in court as being “deeply upset over a church-related matter” at the time of the incident. Maybe he was angry because his church wouldn’t have a polka mass?

NPR aired an excellent review yesterday of Ojos Negros, the new album by Argentinian bandoneon great Dino Saluzzi and German cellist Anja Lechner. Saluzzi and Lechner have been collaborating for years and play chamber music rooted in Argentinian folk traditions.

Their music floats between classical and jazz, combining the formal structure of Saluzzi’s compositions with intimate interplay and improvisation between the bandoneon and cello. They’re touring the United States this month, including a show during the “Compressing the World” accordion music series at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles.

You can listen to the full review on the NPR website:

Ojos Negros: A Mix of Highbrow and Funky (NPR, 3:35)

Headed to Frankenmuth, Michigan this summer? If you want to stay somewhere steeped in polka lore, check out the Marv Herzog Hotel opening next month. Each room at the hotel will highlight a different year in the life of Little Bavaria’s polka legend. There will also be a Marv Herzog Museum of Memorabilia showcasing Marv’s accordions, music stand and songbook, and vast collection of beer steins from Germany and Austria.

Inducted into the International Polka Music Hall of Fame in 1979, Marv Herzog was a popular accordionist and polka band leader. Herzog started the Frankenmuth Summer Music Fest which attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually. He passed away in 2002 after a 58-year music career, but it sounds like the Marv Herzog Hotel will be a fitting tribute to this polka king.

For further proof that accordions and banjos can live together in harmony, check out The Scarring Party. This unique Milwaukee quintet plays 1920’s-style music with gothic, macabre lyrics delivered through vocals that sound like they should be coming out of an old Victor Victrola. The catchy “No More Room” — off their debut album A Concise Introduction — “fortells certain doom to the bouncing rhythm of tuba, bass, accordion, banjo, and tongue drum.” Certain doom never sounded so good.

The Scarring Party: No More Room (MP3 download)

Over the past 24 hours, I’ve been beseiged by phone calls, emails, and homing pigeons from concerned friends and family, most of them asking the same question: “Are you insane? How could you forsake the accordion for the banjo?” Few put it as eloquently as this email from one of our readers:

“I play music with a banjo player, but those guys have plenty of sites and publicity. We Accordion-Americans and our co-accordionists around the planet need an ACCORDION site.”

With those words in mind, I’m abandoning the now-infamous “banjo plan” and returning Let’s Polka to its regularly scheduled programming — all accordion, all the time. Our brief national nightmare is over, and I hope we can move on with a greater appreciation for both instruments. After all, where would Cleveland-style polkas be without accordions and banjos?

(For those who missed the hullabaloo, see my last post and a screenshot of what the site looked like yesterday.)

I have a confession to make: there’s a new instrument in my life.

It started innocently — one day, I was just sitting on the couch, picking on the banjo that I bought Anna for Christmas last year. Next thing you know, I’m filling my iPod with Tony Trischka albums and hunching in front of the TV to play along with “The Ballad of Jed Clampett.”

So starting today, April 1st, we’re switching our focus from the accordion to the plucky banjo. Instead of polka and zydeco, we’ll be discussing bluegrass, proper clawhammer technique, and Scruggs tuners.

To get things started, here’s one of my favorite clips featuring five banjo greats — Earl Scruggs, Tony Ellis, Charles Wood, Pete Wernick and Steve Martin, calling themselves “Men With Banjos Who Know How to Use Them” — playing “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” on the Late Show with David Letterman:

Buyer Beware
uploaded by h. wrenI love this old 1930s Wurlitzer accordion ad. Only the first few lines of text are shown, but it appears to be warning prospective accordion shoppers against the scourge of foreign-made instruments. But what I really love is the matter-of-fact introduction: “For fun, fame and profit play the accordion.” Ah… so that explains the proliferation of rich and famous accordionists everywhere. Sign me up!

In a genre (conjunto) dominated by men, Eva Ybarra has done more than hold her own — she has become a master. Born in San Antonio, Ybarra is a self-taught accordionist who began playing in clubs and restaurants at age six. Her fluid style and fast, melodic runs set her apart and earned her the nickname, “la reina de acordeón” (queen of the accordion). Today, after years of performing solo and with her own group, she teaches accordion and inspires the next generation of conjunto musicians.

A profile of Ybarra in today’s San Antonio Express-News covers her music, her teaching, and the challenges she has faced as a rare female accordionist in the conjunto world. If you’ve never heard her play, check out the title track from her 1994 album, A Mi San Antonio:

Eva Ybarra: A Mi San Antonio (MP3 download)

Yesterday at the library and I came across this children’s book, Baby Danced the Polka by Karen Beaumont (illustrated by Jennifer Plecas). It is a very cute book about a baby who doesn’t want to take a nap, but instead wants to dance… the polka! After searching Amazon, I found that the book is highly rated — 5 stars! I’m glad to see a popular children’s book about polka. Hopefully this is just the start of a huge resurgence!