WMAS
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WMAS NEWS UPDATE
July 27, 2010
Meeting Notes
Eighty people can’t be wrong! We had a great turnout for our July 11 WMAS meeting, which featured a concert by our own Ken Kunec.
Ken’s accordion helped put him through college, but after he had a family he stored it in the back of a closet for decades. “My kids thought it was illegal,” he said. A few years ago he took it out and started to play again. One of his first gigs was for the senior group at his wife Teddy’s Greek Orthodox Church. Ken doesn’t speak Greek, but for the occasion he memorized the lyrics for a few Greek songs, and he performed one of these for us. In addition he performed a song in Spanish (“Besame Mucho”) and one partially in French (Jacques Brel’s “Ne Me Quitte Pas”). The playlist also included “Georgia on My Mind” (written in 1930 by Hoagie Carmichael in honor of his sister Georgia and popularized by Ray Charles 30 years later); “Stardust” (also by Hoagie Carmichael – there are 1,500 recordings of it); Jimmy Buffett’s “ Where Ya Gonna Go When the Volcano Blows” (with audience participation – and, by the way, the Washington area experienced an earthquake a few days later, although no volcano); “Makin’ Whoopie” (an Eddie Cantor hit in 1928); “Jambalaya” (a rewrite by Hank Williams of an older Cajun song); and much more. It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. We hope pieces of the concert will end up on YouTube.
Next Meeting
Don’t forget: we are skipping August, and our next meeting will be September 19. On the program: an Oktoberfest celebration.
American Accordionists’ Association Festival
As those who attended can attest, the AAA annual festival and competition in Hershey, Pa., July 14-18 was a blast. Besides the obvious -- the chance to live and breathe accordions for more than three days straight -- it was a time to catch up with old friends and make new ones from as far away as Arizona, and even Russia.
WMAS was all over the roller coasters at Hershey Park and everywhere at the festival. The Potomac Accordion Ensemble performed (flawlessly, according to Dan Grauman) at Thursday’s Cabaret Night, and the Busso Festival Showband, which includes several ensemble members, performed a beautiful, elaborate medley of love songs. Frank Busso, Jr., conducted; Frank Busso, Sr., played first accordion. Karen Malan-Uribe and Joan Grauman, along with Mary Tokarski, presented a workshop on their children’s book An Accordion: What Is That? Several ensemble members participated in competitions, and Peter DiGiovanni, Yimeng Huang, and Mark Nejako took home trophies. Peter’s composition, a graceful waltz called “Gliding Along,” placed second in the Elsie M. Bennett Composition Competition, Senior Division, and we got to hear him play the piece at the awards ceremony on Saturday. The extraordinarily talented Andre Fry, age 15, also performed his original composition, the complex and technically challenging “Czardas,” which won the Elsie M. Bennett Composition Competition, Junior Division. (Andre, who took up the accordion only 11 months ago, performed one piece at our May meeting, and we plan to bring him back next spring to play a whole concert.) At the Saturday night banquet, several WMAS members played in the Festival Orchestra, and Joan Grauman and her daughter Emily Geller, in costume, danced to Vladimir Mollov’s Balkan tunes.
Everyone agreed this was the best AAA festival they had ever attended. If you missed the fun, there’s always next year: the 2011 event will take place in Charleston, South Carolina. Don’t forget to check the AAA Facebook page and www.accordionusa.com for photos and stories. Eventually, photos will be posted to the WMAS website as well.
Petition to Allow Instruments as Carry-ons
The American Federation of Musicians is circulating an email petition to make it easier to carry instruments onto airplanes. Please check it out at:
http://www.afm.org/departments/legislative-office/carrying-instruments-on-airplanes
Acoustic Band ISO Accordionist
The Nice Trys, an accoustic “absurdist honky-tonk” band is looking for an accordion player. The band performs regularly at the New Deal Cafe in Greenbelt and other clubs around the DC area. Please contact Joe Harris at swelterpants@yahoo.com. More info at
http://www.myspace.com/thenicetrys
Invitation to the Long Island Accordion Club’s August 3 Inaugural Meeting
On Tuesday, August 3, 2010, the Long Island Accordion Club will be holding its very first meeting. I most cordially invite you and your friends to attend this “historic first session.”
If you play the accordion, please bring your instrument and play a “song or two.” This is open to anybody who plays the accordion no matter what your level of capability (beginner, intermediate, amateur or professional). Everyone is welcome to participate!
The whole idea is to get accordionists together to share their love for playing the “best musical instrument in the world.” We all can learn from each other no matter what our abilities are. Please come!
(People who love to just listen to accordion music are most cordially invited to attend.)
Place:
Campagnola Restaurant
6546 Jericho Tpke.
Commack NY 11725
(Commack Corners Shopping Center)
631-499-0088
www.campagnolarestaurantpizzeria.com/home.html
Time: 7 PM
Since we are meeting in a restaurant /pizzeria all attendees are asked to have a bite to eat that evening.
Since this is going to be our first session, please e-mail or call me so I have an idea about how many people will be attending.
Please share this with your friends.
Dominic Karcic
accordionman@optonline.net 631-864-4428
Sad news: the Beatles’ accordionist, Shirley Evans, has died:
Did you know that Spongebob Squarepants plays the accordion? See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su3v-C4Rz6U