Okay, let's be honest. I'm never going to manage to post regularly on here again. Or even occasionally. So if you're looking for timely accordion information and activity online, you're better off hitting the Static Links over there in the left sidebar.

The comment posting has been disabled, so I don't have to worry about crawling back in here to delete comment spam.

And finally, here's two more two-fisted accordion links for the road... The Tiger Lillies and Reyes Accordions.

Thanks for reading and keep bellowing.

Accordionist/singer, Jason Webley seems to get plenty of comparisons to Tom Waits. Not a bad thing, we suggest. Here's the beginning of a four-part interview with Webley. And the Monsters Of Accordion tour -- yet another event we missed.

Here's a silly preview of last weekend's Cotati Accordion Festival -- which, yes, we failed to post about in a timely fashion. So maybe consider this an advanced tip to catch the next festival in August 2004.

If you happen to be literate in Dutch, www.accordeonist.be is an interesting looking accordion site originating in Belgium.

Also mentioned here previously, the Raymond Scott Orchestrette's first album, Pushbutton Parfait, has been available for a while now. Dedicated to reworkings of the late Raymond Scott's compositions, this acoustic septet delivers with lovingly tweaked renditions of such classic Scott numbers as Powerhouse and The Penguin. Not content with the old Quintette repertoire, they also tackle such later material as Mountain High, Valley Low and the originally electronic Little Miss Echo. Will Holshauser is the RSO's accordion man and sometimes arranger. The music is not particularly accordion-centric, but there is much good playing to be heard. The Penguin is perhaps notable for two accordion parts, with Holshauser joined by Brian Dewan (usually on the zither), for this number.

I've mentioned Esteban Jordan on here previously. The Many Sounds of Steve Jordan is a mighty fine trip through his de/reconstructed conjunto kaleidoscope. The disc begins with nine tracks recorded in Hollywood in 1963 and one from 1970. These tracks are more traditional than his later work, but even as a young man, his punch and precision were fully developed. And he gets in some pretty tricky licks indeed. The remainder of the disc is his album, El Corrido De Jhonny El Pachuco, originally an independent release titled Las Coronelas on the RyN label, but picked up by Arhoolie in 1987. Their dating suddenly gets hazy here, but they imply it was recorded sometime in the early 80s (and the bass drum sound seems to confirm that). Whenever, it's terrific stuff -- hot conjunto, chopped, channeled and fully customized in Jordan's unique style. Listening to Midnight Blues with the thought that he's playing it on a three-row diatonic box simply blows my mind. Eugene Chadbourne has written an enthusiastic review and a brief biography. Mr. Jordan's own website has recently come to life. There's even an e-mail discussion list.

El Amar, released in 2000 by the prolific Egyptian percussionist and bandleader, Hossam Ramzy, features quarter tone piano accordion virtuoso, Mohsen Allaam. Serious belly dancing music here, with terrifically elaborate rhythms and lines. Ramzy's arrangements tend to keep the lead tossed around from instrument to instrument, but Mohsen Allaam does get to take the extended lead on a couple of tracks. In particular, Habibi Baladi, We Zay El Amar is a long and smoldering performance.

Ahma is a 1998 album recorded by Finland's Maria Kalaniemi with her band, Aldargaz. Like much eclectic, modern music, it's a bit tricky to describe exactly, but I'll generalize it as Finnish folk refined to a chamber music level. M.K.'s 5-row chromatic playing is superb throughout, full of exotic/chromatic knot twisting. Some of the other musicians occasionally get a bit too new-age tinkly for my cranky taste, but the accordion work always makes up for it. Also listen for a tango (Los Mareados) and a very fine piece (Lovina) with just accordion and a small string section, quartet or quintet, perhaps.

From the department of screwball ideas that come to you while lying awake in bed at night, here's my own unnecessary contribution to the treble button layout universe. Taking off on the piano key layout, it's provisionally called the Quasi-Piano Chromatic Button Layout. The notes are the same, bellows in or out, though it offers none of the logical benefits of the established chromatic button layouts. There really isn't much good to say about it -- it's pretty silly -- just something for blockheads like me who are afraid to leave the piano layout behind. Still, there are a few good things about it... it fits a 43-note span into a smaller space, you can jump an octave simply by hopping up or down one row and... it looks kind of cool with those hexagon-y shapes. So, just a goofy idea of dubious utility -- but it would be fun to try.

Here's a long new profile in Q&A format with Dick Contino, conducted on December 4, 2002 just outside of Cleveland, Ohio.

(submitted by Craig McDonald)

Global Accordion: Early Recordings (1927-1948) is a recent CD on the German Wergo label, compiling accordion recordings from old 78s. As you might suspect, the material derives from around the world. The sound quality is good, though sometimes it feels a little too tweaked for my taste -- a couple of tracks have some artificial stereo imaging happening and some other tracks seem to have a posh digital reverb ladled on top. A couple of my favorites are two French tracks in the early, rural Auvergne style. Wonderfully raw and exotic sounding stuff. The booklet features the expected essays (in German and English) and a lot of interesting old photos. For a link with an English-speaking destination, here's a review of the disc at the Musical Traditions website. Most of the usual web retailers seem to have it available.

The corrido is a centuries-old Mexican narrative ballad form which documents current events, including the adventures of outlaws and revolutionaries. Today, the narcocorrido documents the exploits of true-life drug traffickers and gangsters. All with hard-driving, conjunto accordion. This page supports Elijah Wald's book, Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns and Guerrillas. The page includes links to much more information, including lyrics and some audio sources, somewhere or other.

He's a programmer, he's a weblogger, he's an accordion player. Meet Joey deVilla. I try not to hate him for getting a Titano for free.

An accordion repairman's site. I can't vouch for or against his work in any way, but he does have quite a bit of free information posted on the site. Don't miss the tip on cats.

Rootsworld's Free Reed Festival has lots of stories, lots of audio, check it out.

A mid-sized acoustic combo, The Raymond Scott Orchestrette is, unsurprisingly, devoted to "re-configured re-arrangements" of the repertoire of composer Raymond Scott. Will Holshouser holds down the accordion chair. Their first album, Pushbutton Parfait, is scheduled to be released in July 2002. This page includes some tasty audio samples.

Working in his converted chicken coop studio, Sweden's Lars Hollmer has been creating avant accordion music since the 70s. Over at Rootsworld, you can hear a couple of tunes from Lars' 2001 album, Utsikter.

According to these folks, June is "National Accordion Awareness Month". Might be a good time to post a few new links on here, no? Maybe even before the month runs out?

Here's a listener's introduction to forro: a rural style originating in northeastern Brazil. Featuring the accordion, of course. This is from Slipcue E-zine, which includes a lot of other good information as well.

An analysis of the reed registers and combinations traditionally employed on the standard Stradella (120) button keyboard. From Accordions Worldwide, written by Donald Balestrieri.

One more link on Guy Klucevsek... here's an article of his own, reminiscing about his life behind the bellows. From the Classical Free-Reed website.

A worshipful site created by Guido Deiro's son, Count Guido Roberto Deiro. The Count clears up the controversy over who was the first famous piano accordionist, Guido or his brother, Pietro. It was Guido, of course! In fact, on this website, there are so many firsts attributed to this celebrated accordionist, you'll be convinced that he discovered penicillin and split the atom (using his piano accordion, which he was the first to master). There's an interesting section about his marriage to Mae West, with whom he spent many an evening perfecting his bellows shake.

His name keeps coming up in these links, so here is Guy Klucevsek's own website. A virtuoso player and composer with his fingers dipped into many oceans, from jazz to avant garde to contemporary classical to world music to post-you-name-it. That's one big accordion he's got there, too.

An interesting, though too brief, article by Simone Zanchini; examining the accordion's somewhat checkered history in jazz. From Accordions Worldwide.

Domenic serves up the perfect combo: The Beatles and The Accordion. There are sound clips of Domenic's Beatles covers, historical info, pictures (including a nice one of John playing a 120-bass Hohner on All You Need is Love), and a lot of friendly, kooky stuff. Inexplicably, Domenic is also selling a pair of John Kay of Steppenwolf's glitter Nikes from his 1983 tour. Weird! If you're interested, I'd be willing to let go of a pair of Dave Lee Roth tube socks for real cheap!

Esteban Jordan (often going by the name Steve Jordan) is one of the great innovators of modern conjunto, working with casual virtuosity and playful inventiveness. To my ears, it's like he took the traditional styles, turned them inside out, shuffled elements at his whim and then turned it rightside out again. This link goes to the Hacienda Records label, where no surprise, they're looking to sell you stuff. But they also provide a brief biography and a helping of audio samples from each album.

From Accordions Worldwide, here's a 1999 interview with Faithe Deffner, who was right in the middle of a lot of accordion manufacturing and marketing history. Along with her firsthand experiences, she also has some interesting and well-earned opinions (and all I want for Christmas is a Tiger Combo'Cordion).

Marco Marcheselli is an Italian player of the Bolognese organino, a button-keyboard instrument. This German page is geared to selling the Introducing Marc and Sally album, but happily includes full-length streaming samples of all tracks. Nice stuff... modern/retro easy grooves with organino flavoring. If you prefer a more traditional sound, check out the "unplugged" track 12.

Another cool item at Hans Palm's site, Speed Up! is a tiny music reading practice program. Basically a flash card exercise, conveniently remodeled into computer form. Simple, elegant and practical.

Swedish accordionist, Hans Palm, compares treble keyboard layouts: piano keyboard, chromatic button, uniform keyboard and the Kravtsov system (diatonic button layouts are not part of the discussion). Interesting, and maybe mind-bending stuff. My own reactions are that I feel safe with the piano keyboard (I know it's not the most efficient system, but the nooks and crannies keep me oriented), though I am intrigued by the chromatic button system (would probably generate lines that would never occur to me on a piano keyboard). The uniform and Kravtsov layouts? Well, I'm sure they work very well for some people, but disorient me like an M.C. Escher illustration. Interesting though. Be sure to check out the rest of Hans' site. Lots of good stuff.

Vallenato is an accordion centered music from the rural, northeastern coast of Columbia. Music of the poor that started out with a bad reputation. The early trio lineup was usually an accordion, a conga-like drum and a guaracha (scraper), but today there may be a full band -- especially a bass guitar, playing free and slinky lines. Here's a solid introduction, with the history, the styles and a survey of the artists.

Want a weekend project? How about learning a new tune? Here's a German site (English language version available) with free sheet music and matching mp3's.

Regis Gizavo (sometimes known as Francois-Regis Gizavo) is a player from Madagascar, creating a unique and exotic sound with his diatonic and chromatic button accordions. Drawing from the folk styles of the area, but very much adding his own thing to the mixture. Sometimes quite trancy. This page gives you a quick introduction. Continue with this slightly longer article.

This is the web version of a fine PBS documentary about the Tex-Mex conjunto scene. It aired here and there last fall -- I don't know if it's still popping up anywhere or not. Quite good, it traced the combined history of the music and the accordion within the conjunto tradition, along with the strong resurgence that's currently cooking. Certainly the best and most positive US TV exposure that the accordion has received in decades. I was a wee bit disappointed that the piano accordion was painted as the instrument of geriatric gringos, but the scenes of teenage girls screaming over an accordion player make up for it, I guess. I admit that I do envy those diatonic button boxes for their sportin' compactness, but I don't think I could ever wrap my mind around that in-out different-note thing. This website includes quite a bit of material from the show, a few things not included in the show and a nice helping of audio.

On the radio last night, I caught the tail end of a live set by Ted Nash's band, Odeon. A very interestingly eclectic jazz combo, including Bill Schimmel working subtle magic on his accordion. Their music includes tasty dollops of New Orleans roots, European cafe and Argentine tango. Among other things. Even a Debussy adaptation. And tuba instead of bass. Tasty, yeah. Here is a Village Voice review of their CD, Sidewalk Meeting.

One last Contino link for the road... here's a slightly more recent interview (August 1999) with the Elvis of Accordion from, fittingly enough, Las Vegas Life. Covers similar ground to the other stories, embellished with some salty new quotes.

And speaking of two-fisted accordion, here's the man, the legend... Dick Contino. Back in my pre-accordion days, I first saw Contino when the Mystery Science Theater 3000 tv show gave the treatment to his accordion-less 1959 movie, Daddy-O. They joshed him plenty for his high-riding pants, but the man had a snappiness and mid-century cool that came through regardless. My next lesson in Contino came via this interview on the Astounding B-Monster website, which covers his history and his 90s comeback when hard-boiled author, James Ellroy, turned him into a semi-fictional bellows-pumping action hero. When you finish that, continue on to their related article with more on Daddy-O and his other 50s show-biz adventures. Read on, cats, read on.

Here's a large image of our mangy mascot, Pan. Suitable for use as a pinup, sticker, t-shirt transfer, tattoo, dartboard, birdcage liner... At this point you may be wondering just what we're talking about with this two-fisted accordion talk. Well, for one it's simply a good, snappy tagline. But also... it seems that with the accordion's maligned reputation, players are too often trapped into wasting time defending or explaining or rationalizing or excusing the instrument. My own inclination, and maybe this is just the old punk rocker talking, is to forget that often losing game and say, "If someone has a problem with the accordion, hey, that's their problem. Let's just do what we do, do it well and do it strong. In their face. Nyahh." Errr, maybe nyahh is a bit much, but you get the idea. It's a powerful, complex instrument that can explore any sort of music (not just its stereotypical genres -- not that there's anything wrong with them, either), so let's pop off those bellows straps and GO!

Another BIG site. The Classical Free-Reed group is real serious about the accordion (and other free-reed instruments), and they have the content to back it up. There's a library's worth of material to read here -- from early history to Guy Klucevsec's auto-squeezography. Take a day sometime and explore.

And while I'm hitting the major sites, AccordionLinks.com is another essential. A massive accumulation of accordion-related links -- and not just thrown together in a pile, but well-organized, well-maintained and regularly updated. Jeroen Nijhof does a true service to the community with this site. And no doubt Pancordia will be plundering his good work now and then. Sorry.....

First post on Pancordia, and there's no avoiding this link. Accordions Worldwide is the big megillah of accordion sites, developed in coordination with old-school accordion associations around the world. There might be a bit of an academic attitude sometimes, but there's certainly no arguing with the massive depth and reach of this site. Hit their news index for weekly national and international accordion news in a variety of languages.