Iva Nova- Accordion with Attitude

Iva Nova is an all-girl rock band from St. Petersburg, Russia. The accordionist certainly plays with more enthusiasm than I think I've ever seen. Believe me, you have to be in pretty good shape to dance around with a 20-pound box strapped to you! Their web site describes them: "Besides lyrics on Russian IVA NOVA have songs on Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Georgian and Tatar languages. Along with exploiting endless folklore resources they creatively experiment with other styles. Their live show is a mix of lyrical songs and punky-energetic dances."

Iva Nova

Technorati Claim Code

Nothing special here. Just the Technorati Claim Code - HBYXE3UADQ5N.

OK Go- This Too Shall Pass- Notre Dame Band

This is called OK GO- This too shall pass. Great stuff, but the accordion player is only playing the keyboard hand.

Joan Plays Cotton-Eyed Joe

OK, I'm being brave and proving that I can play a little bit. Enjoy it or not! haha.

Lessons learned:
1. Even when I think I'm smiling, I'm not
2. I'm still not holding my right arm out straight
3. I'm rushing the timing
4. I'm still looking at the keys occasionally (bad, bad)
5. I don't have the camera aimed very well (need a good camera man)
6. I shouldn't rush off the second I stop playing

The PUP Plays Accordion

Well, the PUP didn't perform so well on Live TV for America's Got Talent, but for sheer novelty and new ways to make an accordion look bad, this one is right up there.

Friday Funnies

Note that she is playing a diatonic accordion with buttons on both sides. The right hand buttons have notes in one or two keys, and the left hand buttons have the corresponding chords. If it is bisonoric a different note is produced when the bellows are pushed or pulled.

Wish we could hear this one-woman band!

Everybody Loves Raymond - The Bachelor Party Episode

Another episode in the ongoing derision of the accordion, from Everybody Loves Raymond.



Ray throws a bachelor party for his brother, Robert, at the lodge. Even though it's supposed to be a second, improved party, it's pretty lame. The banner is printed with the wrong name, there is no booze and no strippers, and of course... includes an accordion player.

I have no idea if the director knew that he was making the scene look extra stupid or not. Notice that the player's right thumb is held behind the accordion case. This is not how an accordion is played... so it's obvious that the music was faked.

The instrument is a 72 bass piano accordion.

Music Book Review- Broadway Favorites (Kotwitz)

This book, Broadway Favorites, arranged for accordion by Kenny Kotwitz has some great classic songs in it, but the arrangements are surprisingly difficult to play.

Contents:
Climb Ev'ry Mountain (Sound of Music)
Don't Cry for Me Argentina (Evita)
Getting to Know You (The King and I)
I Whistle a Happy Tune (The King and I)
If I Were a Rich Man (Fiddler on the Roof)
Matchmaker (Fiddler on the Roof)
It Might As Well Be Spring (State Fair)
Mr. Wonderful (Mr. Wonderful)
No Other Love (Me and Juliet)
Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' (Oklahoma)
People Will Say We're in Love (Oklahoma)
The Sweetest Sounds (No Strings)
We Kiss In a Shadow (The King and I)



At first glance this appears to be a book of arrangements of average difficulty. In practice, many of the left hand bass solo notes involve jumps that are out of the range of dexterity for the average player. The right-hand melody lines are fine, so it is probably worth having this book just for the tunes it contains, but be prepared to do a bit of alteration on the left hand to make it easier to play.

Published by Hal Leonard.

Dixie Chicken - Little Feat Album Cover

Isn't this just the greatest album cover?



That said, it's sort of a mystery. The band, Little Feat, doesn't seem to use an accordion. They are a rock band, begun in the 1970s under Lowell George and resurrected under keyboard artist Bill Payne after George's death.

It appears that the album cover (1973) was inspired by some words from the song by Bill Payne "Cajun Girl:"
Fingers that fly on accordion keys
and later...
Might find me a dream, just West of New Orleans
If you pole up the bayou St. John
The way twin fiddles play
And she squeezes her box until dawn

But that song is not found on this album. Any comments with more info would be welcome.

See lyrics to Cajun Girl
Little Feat web site

Friday Funnies

A drummer, sick of all the drummer jokes, decides to change his instrument. After some thought, he decides on the accordion. So he goes to the music store and says to the owner, "I'd like to look at the accordions, please."

The owner gestures to a shelf in the corner and says "All our accordions are over there."

After browsing, the drummer says, "I think I'd like the big silver one in the corner."

The store owner looks at him and says, "You're a drummer, aren't you?"

The drummer, crestfallen, says, "How did you know?"

The store owner says, "That `big silver accordion' is the radiator."

Fat Tuesday- Hobo Nickels

Here are the Hobo Nickels playing at Herman's Hidaway at Fat Tuesday Party in Denver, CO February 5, 2008. They are playing "Weaubleau Well," and were opening for Doug Kershaw.

The genre is sometimes called reggaebilly. This song appears on the Hobo Nickels album called Cooper County. The songs describe sights around fictional Cooper County. Kid's Music that Rocks says "One of the catchiest and funniest is "The Weaubleau Well," which hilariously describes what can be found at the bottom of said well." Other songs include: "The Kearney Barn," "The Picket Fence in Pilot Knob," and "The Excelsior Springs Water Tower."

Clinton Greeted by Haitian with Accordion

Last night on Nightline, former President Bill Clinton was shown touring Haiti. His goal is to assess how to help the Haitians rebuild.



One of those who greeted him, and provided background music for part of the news clip, was this man, with a handsome ivory-colored piano accordion



See and hear the entire clip, "Restoring a Nation," at Nightline Friday, Feb 5, 2010.

Waltz of Love

American pop music to the contrary, the accordion is a very popular instrument in many cultures. The above was recorded at a Slovenian gathering near Cleveland, Ohio, on January 23. Frank Moravcik and his band are playing Waltz of Love, written in 1965 by Stan Blout. Waltz of Love was voted 2009 "Greatest All-Time Hit Song" at the XXII Polkas International Award Show in Cleveland, Ohio.

For more about the song, visit the Slovene-American Club of Spring Hill