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Maria Kalaniemi's
London Concert - UK
 Maria
Kalaniemi, known as 'Finland's Queen of the Accordion', is to appear in a concert
at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, on September 30th, in a program that also
features the Finnish folk group JPP and the BBC Concert Orchestra. The concert
begins at 7.45pm, and will be recorded and broadcast at a later date by BBC Radio
3. Maria Kalaniemi
is highly regarded internationally and has eight CDs to her credit, with a new
solo project scheduled for 2005.
For further information about the concert,
email joanne.Johnson@bbc.co.uk
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James Crabb in Australia
 The
local press in each of the towns and cities where he has performed has followed
Scottish accordionist James Crabb's tour of Australia. For example, his concert
at Hamer Hall in the Victoria Arts Centre drew the following comments from reviewer
Clive O'Connell:-
"Accordionist James Crabb, here on his second Australian
Chamber Orchestra tour, led a distinguished quintet…the performance's fire
came from Crabb, who made few overt attempts to dominate, but did so unconsciously
by the unpredictable nature of his attack. At one moment musing, then driving
the others along with aggressive chording, he demonstrated full identification
with the dreamy Mumuki and the urgent energy of the popular Libertango. So the
image I carried away from Sunday was of Crabb and his passionate style of address…".
Another reviewer, Peter McCallum, said this of Crabb's September 4th concert at
Sydney's City Recital Hall:-
"The musical calibre and rhythmic refinements
of the ensemble were outstanding, Crabb wheezing out the pain of single notes
as though dragged dying from a Buenos Aires dive clutching his last cigarillo"!
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Norwegian Accordionist's
Airport gigs, Sola - Norway
Nils-Helge Brede is
to perform at the Quality Airport Hotel, Sola, from October 15th to 17th. The
function on the 16th is a dance. Nils, who is a member of Norsker Trekkspillerers
Landsforbund (the Norwegian Accordion Association), usually plays alone using
midi rhythm accompaniment, specialises in playing evergreen popular standards,
including Latin music, and has two CDs available.
For further accompaniment,
specialises in playing evergreen popular standards, information email nils.brede@start.no
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Accordion Legends'
Evening' heralds new CD release, Cranleigh - UK
Contributed
by Rob
Howard
 On
Friday October 1st, Jack Emblow and Tony Compton are the chief guests in an accordion
concert, styled the 'Accordion Legends' Evening', to be held at the Cranleigh
Arts Centre, Surrey, England. The concert marks the release of a new CD by the
chief guests, titled 'Jack and Tony'. Featuring mainly music from the duo's jazz
repertoire, this CD is the first recording Emblow and Compton have made since
their long-since sold out LP 'Flying Home', produced in 1986 by the late Malcolm
Gee.
For further information about this new recording, email robaccord5@hotmail.com
Also
on the concert program are accordionist Harry Hussey and The Crawley Accordion
Orchestra (MD Bill Booth). The concert starts at 7.45pm, and there will also be
trade show representation.
For further information email accordionfriends@aol.com
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International Accordion
Camp in Montreux - Switzerland
Contributed
by Holda Paoletti-Kampl
  The
International Accordion Camp in Montreux, featuring the outstanding artistes Peter
Soave (accordion bayan and bandoneon), Mady (accordion) and Jean-Louis
Noton (accordion), was a great success and was enjoyed by all participants,
who came from Canada, Texas, Florida, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France.
Next year's event takes place from the 20th to the 27th of August 2005.
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Los Lobos Tour Dates
- Japan and USA
Contributed
by Harley Jones
 Los
Lobos, the Mexican-American quintet featuring David Hidalgo on accordion and lead
vocals, have some tour concert dates in Japan and California during October. Formed
in 1974 as a rock n' roll band, Los Lobos later added Tex Mex and Latino numbers
to their style and repertoire.
They shot to international attention via
the 1987 movie soundtrack for La Bamba, the film biography of the late Ritchie
Valens. The Los Lobos version of the song La Bamba was a worldwide hit record,
and has been followed by several successful CD recordings and concert appearances
in many countries. Their dates are as follows:-
October:
4th - Shinsaibashi
Club Quattro, Osaka, Japan
5th - Club Quattro, Nagoya.
7th - Liquid Room,
Tokyo
22nd - Universal Ampitheater, Universal City, California
23rd - Pechanga
Resort Casino, Temecula, California
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Café Accordion
Orchestra, Minnesota - USA
 The
Café Accordion Orchestra is promoting a new CD, titled 'Le Disque Français'.
Dan Newton leads this sextet on piano accordion, and their repertoire includes
French musette, vintage swing, European and Latin dance music.
The new
CD includes such well-known pieces as the valse musette Indifference, La Mer,
The Sheik of Araby, and two compositions by Django Reinhardt - Nuages and Swing
42.
For further information email daddysqueeze@yahoo.com
The
Café Accordion Orchestra's imminent bookings include:-
September:
29th - Medina Ballroom, Minnesota (8pm to 11pm)
October:
5th
- Kitty Cat Club, Minneapolis (9pm to 12pm)
24th - Augustana Church, West St
Paul (4pm to 6pm)
29th - The Times Restaurant (9.30om to close)
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Accordion Evolution',
video/DVD - Canada
Edited
highlights (on VHS and DVD) of the June 2003 Las
Vegas Accordion Convention have been issued as a 48-minute souvenir of the
event by Canadian accordionist, Len Imbery. The contents is a mixture of interviews
of people present at the Convention discussing the accordion and its future, plus
selected accordion performances from Janet Todd, Mario Pietrodarchi, Pete Barbutti,
Julien Labro, Ginny Mac, Renzo
Ruggieri and Mirco Patarini.
Please note that the DVD version works on the UK PAL system.
For further
information email limbery@accesscomm.ca
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6th Festival Namurois
de l'Accordeon - France
The Namurian Festival of the Accordion takes place on October 17th, at L'abbaye
de Florette. The doors open at 11am, followed by a dinner accompanied by music.
The Festival, which is supported by Radio Nostalgia, begins at 2pm, involving
stars of the accordion representing various generations.
Representatives
of the press, radio and television will be present. Present day established accordionists
include Jean-Marc Torchy, Christian Gauchy, Daniel Dropsy, Erika, Jean-Yves Laroche,
Roger Fynon and Cathy Minet. Young players appearing - Jeunes Espoirs - are Joris
Gilson, Florence and Steven Herbiet, whilst 'Les veterans du musette' includes
Marcel Demaret, Adolphe Duquenoy and Roger Decoeyer.
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Cajun and Zydeco
Festival, California - USA
On Saturday 25th, the eighth annual Cajun/Zydeco Festival takes place from 11am
to 7pm, at Ardenwood Historic Farm, Fremont, California. Guests include Queen
Ida, Motor Dude Zydeco with Edward Poullard, Mark St Mary, and T. Broussard and
the Zydeco Steppers. Louisiana music and food will be on hand all day, plus the
park's regular features such as the horse-drawn tram, blacksmith and farm animals.
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K
Trio Tour Europe - USA
 Accordionist
siblings Walter Kasprzyk, Mary Toparski and Julie Cardona - known professionally
as the K Trio - are visiting
Europe during October. Their concert dates are as follows: 17th, (5 p.m.) Schwerzenbach,
Bahnstr.14, Chimli-Saal, Zurich; 19th, Coupe Mondiale, Pontarlier; 30th, Bayreuth,
Germany; 31st 10:30 a.m. matinee -- A New Theater -- Kulmbacher Strasse 3, 95028
Hof, Germany.
Each member of the trio has won numerous accordion championship
titles in the USA during the 1960s and 70s, and both Mary and Julie have competed
in the Coupe Mondiale. Since the K
Trio was formed in 1996, they have produced three CDs and have performed in venues
in many parts of the USA, and have also appeared in Canada Australia and New Zealand.
For further information email mary.toparski@comcast.net
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Carl Fortini's Special
Concert Celebrations - USA
Contributed
by Jon Hammond
 Accordionist
Peter Di Bono of San Francisco Bay Area Accordion Club organised a concert on
September 12th by Carl Fortini, the accordionist who played on over 600 movie
soundtracks with everybody from Elvis Presley to Dean Martin and The Beatles.
Art Van Damme made a surprise appearance at the end of Carl's concert and afterwards
40 accordionist friends joined Peter, Carl & Art for a fine evening of dinner
and music at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco California.
Peter
Di Bono and Ron Borelli serenaded the accordionists with a medley of Art Van Damme
classics including "Green Dolphin Street" & "A la Mode".
The general verdict was that a fine time was had by all! San Francisco Bay Area
Accordion Club meets every 2nd Sunday of the month at the Moose Lodge in Daly
City California.
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Accordion Help/Information
required
A
German reader is in need of information about an Ariola Rauner, an accordion that
has been in his family for three generations. Can anyone with any information
about this model please email Ulrich Roessle at Roessleweyhe@t-online.de
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New & Updated
Sites
www.accordions.com/ruggieri
- Updated site of jazz
performer
and tutor
Renzo Ruggieri
www.loucoppola.com
- Updated site of performer Lou Coppola and the Stereo Strings
www.accordions.com/garydahl
- Updated information on music and books available from composer and arranger
Gary Dahl. The updated site includes some new .mp3 sound files offering examples
of his work. Site contains information on ordering books and music as well as
other services such as correspondence courses and biographical information.
www.accordion-fantone.com
- Active entertainer Bob Fantone performs a wide variety of accordion music for
a large variety of events within a 50 mile radius from Long Beach, California.
www.accordions.com/contet
- Pascal Contet's updated website
Article titled 'Craig's
Excellent Accordion Adventure' - "This year, my band, the Gypsy Wranglers,
was hired to play at Carrefour Mondial de l'Accordeon in Montmagny, Quebec".
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The
3rd Festitalia concert on September 10th starred Italy's Roberto Lucanero on diatonic
accordion and occasional vocals, and Canadian-based Russian Alexander Sevastien,
on bayan accordion, presenting a program of classical music plus Russian and Italian
evergreen tunes. Richard Szymczyk, representing 