WMAS Miscellany
Accordion Videos Flaco Jimenez, Freddy Fender and Willy Nelson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvTBdQk5fa0 Pingu Plays Accordion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clZ-fBr296I Four-year-old kid playing Jambalaya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQPEsa5e7K0&mode=related&search Radio Clips Hear a radio clip on San Antonio's International Accordion Festival.
Accordion Gigs Ever seen a mermaid play the accordion? No? Click here. Words from Carl Sandburg The following was offered by a member of the audience at a screening of The Legend of Merv Conn at the American Film Institute's Silver Theatre: Happiness I asked professors who teach the meaning of life to tell me what is happiness. And I went to famous executives who boss the work of thousands of men. They all shook their heads and gave me a little smile as though I was trying to fool with them. And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along the Desplaines River And I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with their women and children and a keg of beer and an accordion. -- Carl Sandburg A Musical Story C, an E-flat, and a G go into a bar. The bartender says: "Sorry, but we don't serve minors." So, the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished: the G is out flat. An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me. I'll just be a second." An A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims: "Get out now! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight." The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender (who used to have a nice corporate job until his company downsized) says: "You're looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major development." This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit, and everything else, and stands there au naturel. Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he's under a rest. The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility. On appeal, however, the C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are bassless. The bartender decides, however, that since he's only had tenor so patrons, the soprano out in the bathroom, and everything has become alto much treble, he needs a rest - and closes the bar. -- contributed by Anne Johnson Leone Monticone sent this obituary of the Pittsburgh accordionist Joe Zarnich: Joe Zarnich was competition for my stepfather and taught on the same block on the South Side. I didn't know until reading this article that he also moved his studio later to the Mount Oliver section of Pittsburgh -- same as my stepfather! Read Myron Floren's obituary from the New York Times. Mr. Floren died July 23, 2005, at his home in Rolling Hills, Calif. And here's an article about Mr. Floren's career. What Future for the Accordion? article by Beniamino Bugiolacchi Read about Val-Taro Musette music. Accordion playing is exercise! The Washington Post Health Section reports that a 150-pound person burns 122 calories per hour playing the accordion! (In comparison, if the same person ushered at church for an hour, he/she would burn 136 calories, and a 150-pound belly-dancer would burn 306 calories!) Log onto www.caloriesperhour.com and plug in your weight to figure out your calorie-burning rate. Now available: Accordion Day e-cards! Click here for a recent Wizard of Id cartoon ridiculing our favorite instrument. Read a Boston Globe article about the July 2004 American Accordionists' Association festival in Quincy, Mass.
Joan and Dan Grauman have posted Joan's arrangements of "Star of the County Down" and "Ashokan Farewell" at http://squeezinart.com/music.htm. Jay Leno announced March 16 that accordion players have been requested not to play "LADY OF SPAIN" to protest the Spanish withdrawal from Iraq. (submitted by Phil Fox) Accordions Anonymous Link (see 4th strip below) http://www.efn.org/~squeeze