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.

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

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

Zydekats on PBS Holiday Celebration

The PBS Los Angeles Holiday Celebration special aired tonight. This program features the best hour of acts from the previous year's event. The production of the L.A. County Arts Commission actually lasts for six hours! I have to say that this is the most interesting holiday program I've seen yet this year.



The range and quality of the acts was spectacular. If you like traditional children's choirs there was one. If you wanted Gospel, it was there. On the other extreme was a ballet dancer who used two fabric banners suspended from the stage rigging as props for a dance routine, or a new interpretation of a portion of the Nutcracker that combined ballet and break dancing.

But the very first act was the Zydekats, led by Lisa Haley, who perform traditional and contemporary Americana/Cajun/Zydeco arrangements. Lisa sings and plays violin, but an accordion is strongly featured in the backup band. This picture was taken off my TV screen, but if you follow the link below you can see a short video about them at PBS.

The accordionist is playing a 72-bass piano accordion.

See a video of the Zydecatz at about the middle of the page.