Interesting Contemporary Accordionists

Ando

Rachelle Garniez

http://www.rachellegarniez.com

She plays in NYC with a fine guitarist named Matt Munisteri, who also plays in a trio called "Musette Explosion." The accordionist in that group is Will Holshauser.

All these folks play at Barbes, where Stephane Wrembel plays a lot.

* sigh *

bbwood_98

Hi ando,
yeah, She's really good. . . .
She's on a great cd of klezmer stuff- the metropolitan klezmer cd.
Will is amazing- a great accordian player- and he plays in matt's other band- brock mumford- which is really good; but not gypsy jazz. There's also Guy kleshevic (sp?)- he's really quite good as well.
I'd like to see more info added to this thread, Accordian is such an underated instrument!
Cheers,
Ben
(NYC)

Cuimean

Guy Klucevsek is probably my favorite accordionist, and up there in my top 10 favorite composers. He writes such great stuff, and his skill on his instrument makes it possible to bring his complex, orchestral tunes to life. "Accordance" (with Alan Bern) and "Heart of the Andes" are probably my favorite albums by him. I'd also recommend his work with Dave Douglas' group Charms of the Night Sky. And he was involved in a great group called Accordion Tribe, which also included accordionists Maria Kalaniemi, Lars Holmer, Bratko Bibic, and Otto Lechner.

Will Holshouser also plays with an interesting group called David Krakauer's Klezmer Madness. As the name suggests, they play klezmer, but they have a somewhat unorthodox take on the genre that includes distorted electric guitar and a DJ. (If you're like me, then that's not a selling point, but these folks pull it off quite well.)

Rob Burger from Tin Hat Trio is also a favorite of mine. To me, there's a real sense of exploration in his playing, like neither he nor the audience knows where his solos will lead. His solo album, "Lost Photograph," is excellent.

A few other recommendations:

All the other folks from Accordion Tribe are involved in interesting musical projects. I've especially enjoyed Otto Lechner's work with sax player Max Nagl's group Ramasuri.
Kimmo Pohjonen - Interesting Finnish player; does nifty things with loops and mult-tracking.
Jean-Luc Amestoy's trio is fantastic.
Stian Carstensen's work with Jimmy Rosenberg and with his band Farmers Market is very impressive.
Ludovic Beier's albums with Angelo Debarre always make me smile. I need to pick up the most recent one. (Note: I was a bit disappointed by his solo album, "New Montmartre." There are several good tunes, but some of it borders on lite jazz.)
Patrick Fournier - His group Freebidou is really fantastic; they're rooted in old musette, but take off in all sorts of different directions.
Luciano Zuccheri - Swinging Italian accordionist who recorded in the '30's and '40's.

nwilkins

Vivianne Arnoux!

bbwood_98

Hi guys,
So I agree on the amestoy trio cd- its really good (just got it!); Rob berger from tin hat is amazing; I really like his playing on those cds . . . .
I'll put in one more local cat- Victor Prieto who plays with my clarinet player adrian mira quite a bit . . . he's pretty darn good.
and one more international player . . . Belle du Berry . . . . of the paris combo- shes pretty good as well!
Cheers,
B.
Ps. who is the blind accordian player that is always playing with gypsy jazzers (fapy, tchavolo, and all)?

Ando

a little OT

William Galison, a jazz harmonica player, does a really good version of "Flambee Montalbanaise" on a duet CD he did with Madeleine Peyroux called "Got You On My Mind."

The harp being a poor man's accordion, of sorts. :-)

Ben, the name of the blind accordion player who plays with Fapy et al, is something like "Ionica"? Maybe that's his last name. I have some video of him sitting behind the band, in mirrored sunglasses, looking totally impassive, like a mobster bodyguard, spinning out line after line of wild melody. Very cool.

Any help out there on his name?

Cheers,
A

Jack

You're thinking of Ionica Minune.

nwilkins

is he blind? Another great accordionist is Marcel Loeffler from Note Manouche, and don't forget Richard Galliano

Jack

I don't think he is; I was just clarifying the name. I think the guy Ben's after is Marcel:
http://www.marcel-loeffler.com/



Best,
Jack.

Ando

That's him! That's the guy I was thinking of, anway. Thanks, Jack.

bbwood_98

Uah . . yup!
Thats him . . . So . . who's ionica? what discs does he do . . . an all that. I agree Marcel is fantastic! so is galliano . . .
Well . . . Who else?
Cheers,
B.