Tag Music

Get Out and Hear Some Accordion!

Its shaping up to be a really nice summer. I’m lucky to play with some great musicians. Playing with Mark Cosgrove last month was really awesome. Here are some more shows coming up in the next couple weeks (June and July 2010.) Click on the links for a map and info:

This Friday, June 18th, at Molto Bene in Hightstown, NJ. Its an accordion and guitar duo with Dan Trent. Swing, Jazz, Bossa Novas, Italian/French. Its also my birthday!

Next Thursday, June 24th, at Deanna’s in Lambertville, NJ. Playing with my old duo The New Impressionists. Chris Blasucci’s awesome unique vocals. In our way covering: Gershwin, Dylan, Cole Porter, Beatles. Go to The New Impressionists website to hear some of what we are all about!

Next Monday, June 28th, at the newly refurbished Black Bass in Lumberville, PA (on the river). With the New Impressionists.

If you’re in the Germantown area and like gypsy jazz, June 30th 6:30p. I’ll be a special guest with the Hot Club of Philadelphia at the Concert in the Park at Pastorius Park in Germantown, PA. You can hear Hot Club here, I haven’t recorded with them….yet. : )

Hope to see you at those!

Efforts to Celebrate World Accordion Day

If World Accordion Day is May 6th, why is it being celebrated in: Austria on May 2nd, 7th and 6th, Canada May 16th, Finland May 8th, 5th and 6th. Lithuania on the 3rd, 5th and 6th, Ireland on the 8th, US 2nd, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 23rd?!?!?!

The implacable 6th of May was chosen by the CIA (Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes), which honors the date the accordion was patented in Germany by Cyrill Demien.

I find it, due to its position this year (Thursday) and last year (Wednesday), difficult to celebrate with a performance. Which is why so many performances around the world are peppered throughout the month. Nevertheless, I will find some way to celebrate it on its proper date, as well as probably the following weekend (the 8th and or 9th.)

In addition to this participation, I will also be celebrating the anniversary of the American patent of the Accordion which occurred in a city close to my heart, Philadelphia, PA on June 13th, 1854. This date falls on a Sunday this year and is thus easier to celebrate for the public.

Additionally, there is the National Accordion Month, since 1989. Founded by a gentleman-artist called Tom Torriglia (proprietor of LadyofSpain.com). I don’t have information on the celebrations planned this year.

And finally there is, accordion to NPR, a National Accordion Day. November 2nd.

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Another post about Recording, Galliano and PT Barnum

Another post about My Accordion has a Mic!

Another post about Bach, Barns and Eruptions

Another post about Recording with Orphan Trains

Another post about Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz

Another post about Art Van Damme 1920-2010

Another post about Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz

Another post about Stephane Delicq

Another post about Accordion Factory Video

Another post about Accordionist Death

Another post about Brad Mehldau at Carnegie Hall

Another post about Richard Galliano in NYC

Another post about Ben Perowski

Another post about Edith Piaf

Another post about Musette Master Daniel Colin

Another post about Contemporary Accordion Classical Music

Another post about Communist Fighting Accordionist

Another post about World Accordion Trio

Another post about Bluegrass Accordion

My accordion has a mic!

1. My accordion has a mic now. Put in lovingly by Acme Accordion School of Westmont, NJ.

2. I will be playing this Today, 24th and Tomorrow 25th, at John Murdoch’s studio. Solo accordion from 12-4. Should be good accoustics and good art.
You need tickets, $10 per group of people.
5113 Anderson Road (rear barn), Holicong, PA, 18928

3. I picked up two recordings this week and I love them.

Daniel Colin Passion Gitane and Ricccardo Tesi Accordeon Diatonique

Another post about Musette Master Daniel Colin

Another post about Contemporary Accordion Classical Music

Another post about Communist Fighting Accordionist

Another post about World Accordion Trio

Another post about Bluegrass Accordion

Another post about my latest project

Another post about Guido Deiro

Another post about Richard Galliano’s recording Paris Concert

Another post about Accordionist Richard Galliano

Another post about Accordionist Maria Kalaniemi

Big Accordion Festival Hamburg 2/13/10: Galliano, Accordion Tribe, Kimmo Pohjonen

Giant accordion festival in Hamburg Germany. Starting next week. I think the accordionists have more fun in Europe, and I’m here stuck in the snow. Well this is definitely an event I would like to go to!

(Translated from the website:)

Where else than in the port city of Hamburg should be the “Schiffer Piano” and his music just devote a whole festival? Venue of the Reeperbahn is no accident, however: For the international accordion scene, cheeky and very lively – hardly a musical genre in which they had not successfully taken root. Thus, the neighborhood festival “accordion,” the performance show that approximately 200 years old invention that has conquered the whole of the folklore of Europe and large parts of South America: Of course the “classics” are the instrument family to experience – that of the Argentine tango bandoneon, the accordion alpine folk music, the musette, the French dance music of the Viennese Quetschn Heurigenklänge. But there is no lack of the “young savages,” which is unprecedented advance into sound ground – in short, as everything turn, has to give away what joy of playing the accordion and Tanzwut.

  • February 13th, 8pm – Carel Kraayenhof & Sexteto Canyengue, St. Pauli Theater
  • 14th, 8pm – Klaus Paier & Asja Valcic, with the Jurek Lamorski Quartett, Imperial Theater
  • 15th, 8pm – Kimmo Pohjonen Kluster, Grünspan
  • 16th, 8pm – Teodoro Anzelotti, St. Pauli Kirche
  • 17th, 8pm – Attwenger, Safari Cabaret
  • 18th, 8pm – Richard Galliano Tangaria Quartet, St. Pauli Theater
  • 19th, 8pm – Accordion Tribe, Imperial Theater
  • 20th, 8pm – The Motion Trio; Akkordeon-Orchester Hamburg-Eimsbüttel (MD Hans-Georg Beyer), Fliegende Bauten

Another post about Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz

Another post about Stephane Delicq

Another post about Accordion Factory Video

Another post about Accordionist Death

Another post about Brad Mehldau at Carnegie Hall

Another post about Richard Galliano in NYC

Another post about Ben Perowski

Another post about Edith Piaf

Another post about Musette Master Daniel Colin

Another post about Contemporary Accordion Classical Music

Another post about Communist Fighting Accordionist

Another post about World Accordion Trio

Another post about Bluegrass Accordion

Another post about my latest project

Another post about Guido Deiro

Another post about Richard Galliano’s recording Paris Concert

Another post about Accordionist Richard Galliano

Another post about Accordionist Maria Kalaniemi

Carnegie Hall Names Mehldau First Jazz Artist for Composer's Chair

Great news if you are a fan of jazz pianist Brad Mehldau. Mehldau has been given a season-long residency at Carnegie Hall this season, 2010-2011. What this means? Alot of fantastic new Brad Mehldau music; there will be music with strings, music with words, music for two pianos! Exciting. (Thanks to Nonesuch Records site for having such a great press write up on this news.)

Tuesday, November 9, 2010: Mehldau’s composition Highway Rider with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Jeff Ballard, Larry Grenadier, Joshua Redman, and Matt Chamberlain.

Saturday, February 19, 2011: Expanded Love Songs cycle with singer Anne Sofie van Otter.

From Nonesuch Records:

Mehldau explores both his improvisational side and his interest in the formal structure of classical music with a solo program featuring some of his own original compositions interspersed with classical piano works that influenced him throughout his career. In February, he reunites with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter for the New York premiere of a newly expanded version of his song cycle Love Songs, along with traditional lieder and standards from composers like Brahms and Lennon & McCartney. The expanded version of Love Songs was commissioned by Carnegie Hall following the original’s spring 2009 debut by this duo. The original libretto comprises three poems by early 20th-century American poet Sara Teasdale, book-ended by poems from Philip Larkin and e. e. cummings.

Friday, March 11, 2011:  a concert featuring the world premiere of a new work for two pianos, six winds, and percussion co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4IFtgATxK0]

Another post about Richard Galliano in NYC

Another post about Ben Perowski

Another post about Edith Piaf

Another post about Musette Master Daniel Colin

Another post about Contemporary Accordion Classical Music

Another post about Communist Fighting Accordionist

Another post about World Accordion Trio

Another post about Bluegrass Accordion

Another post about my latest project

Another post about Guido Deiro

Another post about Richard Galliano’s recording Paris Concert

Another post about Accordionist Richard Galliano

Another post about Accordionist Maria Kalaniemi

Musette Atache: Japan Takes Accordion Frenchly

I came across these two lovely articles covering master accordionist Daniel Colin on his tour in Japan.

Musette Delivers Taste of France, from Friday November 20th, 2009, in The Japan Times Online. Written by Yung-Hsiang Kao. The piece covers French Accordionist Daniel Colin’s current tour there, and includes a little backup history on the mordinary (a better word for extraordinary) music that is Musette! Interestingly, the article also connects the Musette interest with Japan’s larger Francophilism: Louis Vuitton bags, french baking, and frog legs (just kidding about that one.)

“For 15 years now, there has been a comeback of the accordion and musette — trash musette, hip-hop musette — but with this group (with Colin) it is a more traditional French musette and chanson.”

Musette is an accordion-centered traditional French music created in Paris in the 1920s from a mix of sounds by Italian immigrants and Auvergne folk from the Massif Central region.

It is to France what jazz is to the United States, according to Cravic, a producer and guitarist.

“Musette was very successful until the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll,” Cravic says in English on a recent visit to Japan with Colin, an accordion player. “Accordion players were overwhelmed, so most of these guys tried to be more showy.

And the other article, Paris, Love Song for You, in Metropolis, written by Dan Grunebaum, from November 12th, 2009.

The accordion revival took hold in Japan in the ’90s, rooted in the continued popularity here of musette and its more sedate cousin, chanson. Among its exemplars are virtuoso Coba and young chanteuse Uri Nakayama.

“It’s an instrument that can be impressive even for young people. They are used to electric guitars, keyboards, and usually this music is not complex. But when we have the experience of playing in front of different musicians in France who are involved in rap or whatever, when they see and hear and feel Daniel, it’s very impressive for them. From the mid ’80s, accordion came back in all sorts of different fields. Now you can hear accordion players in rap or even punk.”

Enjoy!

Another post about Contemporary Accordion Classical Music

Another post about Communist Fighting Accordionist

Another post about World Accordion Trio

Another post about Bluegrass Accordion

Another post about my latest project

Another post about Guido Deiro

Another post about Richard Galliano’s recording Paris Concert

Another post about Accordionist Richard Galliano

Another post about Accordionist Maria Kalaniemi

Another post about Accordion Event Calendar

Another post about Octoberfest Accordion Babes

Another post about New Polka

Another post about Punk Rock Accordions

Another post about Busking

World Accordion Trio – Galliano, Coba, Marocco

Finally there is something written about this concert! I had been seeing people twitter about it, and I saw some things on Coba’s blog. But I was unable to get the drift of exactly what went on. And now Elke Ahrenholz has posted a write up on accordions.com. On Octover 23rd, 2009:

To mark the 90th Anniversary of Victoria Accordions, a truly superlative concert was organised. A mega-event of three very famous accordionists together on stage in the Megura Permission Hall, a 1200 seat Theater with excellent acoustics in Tokyo.

The three were Richard Galliano (France), Frank Marocco (USA) and Coba (Japan) who enchanted the audience with a concert program lasting approximately 2 hours.

I wish I was there to see that.

Some small thoughts from Coba on his blog:

Successfully completed the world premiere of the concert accordion contest the world’s three largest Keru Meguro Persimmon.

Richard and Frank is really amazing.
Were giants.
Was consistently full of great love from the stage to rehearse.

But feel the responsibility as the fate of those who bear the same instrument, we are very innocently, “accordion-like” the atmosphere. Became deeply ingrained in the minds of each one through one ear of each phrase ….

It is nice to finally get the scoop on this concert. I really hope they release it as a recording or DVD.

Another post about Bluegrass Accordion

Another post about my latest project

Another post about Guido Deiro

Another post about Richard Galliano’s recording Paris Concert

Another post about Accordionist Richard Galliano

Another post about Accordionist Maria Kalaniemi

Another post about Accordion Event Calendar

Another post about Octoberfest Accordion Babes

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French Jazz Accordion – Translated from Taiwanese Writer

There is a big jazz festival in Taiwan next week. And because of twitter and press releases and such, I have learned that Taiwan loves French jazz accordion. (And so do I.)

I came across this really great article written by Taiwanese radio DJ Dannyboy of Philharmonic Radio Taipei. The article is mostly a portrait of Galliano’s musical spirit, while also touching on the connection between the French and Jazz. So with Dannyboy’s permission, I have translated and re-posted the article below (you’ll love it):

Music has paintings, music has poetry – Richard Galliano

University when I read that the French departments, to the romantic vision of France’s style has always been unlimited. Frustratingly, there is until now, I’ve never been to France. Even if the school had a chance to use during the “exchange students” in the name of, bend family support actions to the “French Jazz Journey” is real, but it has not been achieved. Want to go to France, is simple, but of course not to brand-name bags, but for the past two shore of the Seine jazz club. France and the United States is the only competition, “Who are the jazz biological parents” countries, because birthplace of jazz, the United States New Orleans, when belonging to a French colony. In addition, the Seine in Paris as early as 20 years of the two shore, there are not many jazz club nights warm days without playing. Violinist Stephane Grappelli with Gypsy guitarist, “they mean piano magic” Django Reinhardt, their “Hot Jazz Club Quintet of France” <Quintette du Hot Club de France> is not only representative of early jazz in Europe, Reinhardt even been Yu as “the best jazz guitarist in the history.” Be able to embark on “second birthplace of jazz,” has always been one of my dreams.

Dream a dream, however, after all, only to realize the dream is not known. Taichung Jazz Festival to thank me and dream closer to the first three years ago to invite the French trumpeter Erik Truffaz’s orchestra to perform, let me finally have the opportunity to hear the French jazz. Once again this year been invited to today’s jazz accordion top spot from France’s Richard Galliano, which will allow everyone’s “French jazz experience” more “authentic,” Have you been to France to listen to jazz, but not so important.

Accordion in jazz is not a common instrument inside, black people prefer to create an electric organ <Organ> “soul flavor.” Regardless of accordion, electric organ, organ, or a lot of friends a child had played the mouth organ, elementary school music teachers in the classroom organ, as long as there is a “wind”, which issued the basic concepts of sound, even sound itself, are similar to the The “electric organ was with” electricity “create a similar organ sound”. But the carrying accordion musician, the total gives a “wandering poet” feeling. And it brought out the effect of sound, but also gives a “pastoral romance”, and black to play electric organ that “dark soul” different. So, Galliano accordion playing with the jazz, the kind of French rural style, is by no means the Americans can play out. Furthermore, Galliano enlightenment from the U.S. jazz trumpet master Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, he himself also has experience of playing brass instruments, “a child to play the trombone”. So listen to his accordion playing of the moment, experienced fans should be able to find him sound extension and conversion, in fact, there are brass texture, this part of the experience of playing with the Jazz on top of more than appropriate.

Then we talk about “world music.” Of course, this part is too broad, first confined in South America. Mentioned Brazil, we will want to “Samba”, referred to Argentina, will think of the “Tango.” The emergence of the music, in fact, there are similar to the Miao and jazz, as they are through “integration” formed. In other words, rely solely on “Argentina’s indigenous peoples,” “Indian” is not likely to tango, Brazil is the same. All because after a period of great voyages of emigration, so that Spain, Portugal and other countries “also includes the French” stationed in South America, the land, coupled with over black Africans, everyone’s musical culture in this land exchange, and integration into the there is traceable in all different areas of music features. This is the reason why jazz appeared in the U.S., is exactly the same reason.

Pull so much, nothing more than to bring Richard Galliano and the tango music, cook link. In fact, Galliano, and tango music, relations are very deep, he and the father of tango music, Astor Piazzolla friend and teacher, more than ten years of cooperation emotions. It must be stressed that the music of South America were essentially the same profound impact on the European music culture. Or, entire American continent, in addition to the original Indian music and culture, all cultures of the accumulation, are from the great sailing ships began after the period gradually evolved into today’s appearance. These results are all over the European and African immigrants have an absolute relationship. Whether the United States, blues or jazz, Argentine tango and Brazilian samba, are true.

Full of talk about a serious cultural integration, and finally back to Richard Galliano’s music. A comprehensive introduction to the above, you will find Galliano’s accordion with a French pastoral romance, American improvisation uninhibited, and the beauty of the Argentine tango rhythm. His concert to give you the screen, so you need not buy air tickets will be able to tour the magnificent scenery on three continents. Great masters of literature, the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei Su praised the “poems are portraits, there is poetry,” the phrase used in the excellent musicians who is not too little. Galliano is such a “happy there are paintings, music there is poetry,” the musician, and he’s coming!

Another post about Richard Galliano’s recording Paris Concert

Another post about Accordionist Richard Galliano

Another post about Accordionist Maria Kalaniemi

Another post about Accordion Event Calendar

Another post about Octoberfest Accordion Babes

Another post about New Polka

Another post about Punk Rock Accordions

Another post about Busking

Another post about Jean-Louis Matinier

Another post about Jean-Louis Matinier and Renaud Garcia-Fons

Another post about Be-bop Accordion

Richard Galliano Interview

Sitting on a couch right across from you with his accordion on, talking and playing his influences: the maestro known for creating the ‘New Musette’, Richard Galliano.

“The accordion is a traveling instrument, and that is why it is found all over the world.” opens the interview. An organ, Galliano calls it, and then plays an excerpt of a Bach toccatta.

With his accordion in hand, Galliano describes and performs the influence of music of North Brazil, the Carpathian, and Piazzolla’s Tango (which he says possess a link to our collective emotional memory.)

But most of the interview is spent by Galliano explaining the musical origins/history of musette (Italian, French, Gyspy) and then his own way history of adding and creating the ‘New Musette’. How he created the sound and has kept it evolving into something today much more than ‘New Musette’.

The interview cannot be longer than 30 minutes, but it is enormously fascinating. The live concert is brilliant and wonderful as well. But this interview is very intimate and rare.

Another post about New Polka

Another post about Punk Rock Accordions

Another post about Busking

Another post about Jean-Louis Matinier

Another post about Jean-Louis Matinier and Renaud Garcia-Fons

Another post about Be-bop Accordion

Another post about Accordionist Richard Galliano

Another post about Accordionist Maria Kalaniemi