@AqiDrago
I’m very sad that I never got to meet that guy Alfred Mireck from the Moscow Accordion museum, who got arrested by the KGB

He died a few years before I would’ve gotten to interview him

But I really would like to have done up something on the whole Soviet side of #Accordion #MusicHistory with him

@AqiDrago
Histories seem to have diverged in different counties, especially after the Russian Revolution

“Eastern” accordions and “Western” ones split further on several separate branches of various types of instruments

It gets quite lively to try to sort out

#Accordion #MusicHistory

@AqiDrago
There’s theories I’d like to follow. I don’t have the languages to do it justice really

There were some organ makers from Germany Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein (1723– 1795) and Wolfgang von Kempelen (1734–1804)

Working in Saint Petersburg, who were I guess shelling out for musicians, like they were in Austria

They made some key developments that all Western free reeds followed

So that’s pretty important
https://www.isca-archive.org/hscr_2015/brackhane15_hscr.html

#accordion #MusicHistory #ListeningClub

@AqiDrago
There’s #accordion history theories I’d like to research further

East Asian free reeds were brought to Europe in the 16-1700s. They’d been evolving (still are) in Asia for thousands of years

Europeans made reed organs in the 1700s and an explosion of harmonicas, and accordion/concertina relations in the 1820s or so

Maybe there were precedents in Russia? There’s other innovations

But Cyril Demian patented the first instrument Called an #accordion in Vienna in 1829
#ListeningClub

@soundclamp @woj
🪗 So sad #RobReich #Accordion

I thought about playing a record by him but then #GuyKlucevsek died too the same week and the Accordion Tribe record has long been such a favourite it had to be that
#ListeningClub

@SimonLandmine
Somebody was asking me who the “Most famous accordionist in the world” was

In Anglo North America it certainly #WeirdAl who is a pretty decent accordionist, and from briefly talking to him and every account, a really nice guy

But outside of that, it becomes a much more interesting regional and generational question

Because there’s some young audiences who still listen to #accordion in places like Mexico and Lesotho and I don’t know where the biggest crowds are
#ListeningClub

@woj
Maria Kalaniemi sings on a number of her records. Sublime

And sometimes teaches at the Sibelius Folk Music Academy

https://www.mariakalaniemi.fi/maria-kalaniemi-e

#accordion #Finland #ListeningClub

@SimonLandmine
Just this week someone is selling their broken #Accordion collection for $10,000 on Etsy

I wish them all the best

Really nice pictures 🪗

My favourite is: “Pricing will be double for each accordion if a request is made to break up the collection.”

They are obviously heartbroken to be selling. Maybe somebody’s forcing them to, so they’re pricing them knowing they will never sell?

Or they think they’re vintage #guitars or something
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1669435678/?ref=share_ios_native_control
#ListeningClub

@SimonLandmine @Holette
I consciously decided that I kind of had it in me to either learn to play the instrument or to write a book about it, and I knew a bunch of people who played #Accordion

And didn’t know anybody who was writing the book I wanted to read

So 10 years later, I still couldn’t play Accordion, but I had written a nice book about it
#ListeningClub

@SimonLandmine @woj
There are some scoundrels who play the #accordion

Don’t let anybody con you, or run your dictatorship

But probably no more than any other instrument
#ListeningClub

@woj
Good language recognition (going through the back messages)
Maria Kalaniemi added some vocal flavour with her Finnish folk-influenced style

The others all had interesting leanings

Bratko Bibič (Slovenia) was more of a classical/avant-garde fellow

Lars Hollmer (Sweden) was an all around avant- rock-folk whatever

Guy Klucevsek (USA/Slovenia) pulled it all together

Otto Lechner: more a jazz player, blind, he didn’t sight-read scores but played from memory

#accordion #ListeningClub

@vinomadic
I guess he was big in the “new music” scene there. Played for a lot of dancers?

He’s on some Bill Frisell and John Zorn records. There’s a pretty piece on one of Robin Holcomb’s records she wrote for him, but he had to say it didn’t fit the instrument

Wish I could have asked him just how. I talked to him but can’t remember if that came up

Lovely man
#Accordion #GuyKlucevsek #ListeningClub

@iamwahl
There’s a tour film that’s just beautiful

Accordion Tribe - ein Film von Stefan Schwietert

Accordion Tribe - a film by Stefan Schwietert

Well worth seeing, very entertaining watching the interactions between this crew on tour. Better than drunken smashups of hotels

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/accordiontribe

#listeningClub #Accordion

That was the Accordion Tribe’s first 1998 album

Featuring Bratko Bibič (Slovenia), Lars Hollmer (Sweden), Maria Kalaniemi (Finland), Guy Klucevsek (USA/Slovenia) and Otto Lechner (Austria).

Organized by the marvelous #GuyKlucevsek who died this past week ❤️‍🔥🪗

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accordion_Tribe

#ListeningClub #accordion

This is the main instigator’s favourite piece

Written by the Swedish composer, who was the first member of the five accordionists who died a few years ago
#ListeningClub #accordion

@ogili @Holette
Despite the fact that I don’t play, it doesn’t mean I haven’t tried

And over the years I have managed to collect at last count at least 17 mostly broken antique Accordions in my tiny studio apartment

Which is not as bad as the 300 Accordions collected by Alfred Merrick, who got busted by the KGB for having too many

#accordion #ListeningClub

@Holette @ogili
Everybody asks that 🤭

And no, I’m like, a lot of collectors or fans I suppose who wishes they could play

Except it being the #Accordion more people expect it and really wonder why I care 🪗

I don’t think everybody asks rock, photographers, DJs or journalists, whether they are in a band

It’s kind of expected they might be compensating, or maybe using other talents

But why would anybody else care about the Accordion? 🤷🏻‍♂️

#ListeningClub

@SimonLandmine
It’s not John Spires. He might’ve had an interesting time keeping up on one melodeon without switching to play in different keys

There were several #accordion players from different countries

Gathered by one who wanted the chance to play with a group of accordionist composers

#ListeningClub

@ogili @woj @Holette
I’m trying to remember the best answer to the collective group of Accordions that we came up for

It may have been a Bellowing

#ListeningClub #accordion #FolkMusic

@Holette
It’s all accordions on stage except one bit on one track, but that’s not a harmonium

I think the instruments are all nicely separated, like they were on stage when they recorded it live

You might be able to get a sense of the individual performers if you’ve got headphones

#ListeningClub #accordion