June Is National Accordion Awareness Month!

Posted on June 10, 2016

by Amy H

Hip AND Square: Accordions! From polka to zydeco to klezmer music, they’re an important (and incredibly fun) part of American culture and it’s time to appreciate them! June is National Accordion Awareness Month – so channel your inner Lawrence Welk and get those toes a tappin’.

One of my favorite performers is Yann Tiersen who composed and performed the amazing soundtrack for the French film Amelie. There is a piece on Youtube where he plays the piano with one hand and the accordion with the other, because THAT’S how awesome he is. Take a look (the double performance kicks in about 2:50 with a closeup at about 3:33 into the piece):

 

Let’s see Uncle Myron or that kid from the Brady Bunch talent show episode do THAT! And just from a whimsical accordion standpoint – Yann Tiersen – Le Jour d’Avant:

 

So what are you waiting for? We’ve got oodles of stuff to celebrate this wonderful, wacky instrument.

Music CDs

The Polka Floyd Show - MUSIC CD
 Lay Your Burden Down by Buckwheat Zydeco
Zydeco - Allons danser Creole accordions dance compiled by Herman Fuselier - MUSIC CD

Streaming Music (hoopla)

The Scottish Accordion Album by The B & C Band The Celtic Accordion Collection by The B & C Band 50 Irish Accordion Favourites by The Sean O'Neill Band
Accordion Special by Bids Accordion Band France - 22 Accordion Favourites From Paris by Montmartre Accordion Quartet Germany - 22 Accordion Favourites by Bremen Town Accordions

Books and DVD

Squeeze This! : A Cultural History of the Accordion in America by Marion Jacobson
Mendel's Accordion by Heidi Smith Hyde
 Accordion Styles And Techniques [DVD] - taught by Joey Miskulin ; producer and director, Happy Traum

Featured Image Credit:

Paris Accordion Player 0960 by Jorge Royan

Source: Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons license)

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