An album cover suitable for framing; and you can’t beat that Calypso accordion. The group was hot in the 1950’s; cousin of the Talbots, Cromwell “Mandy” Mandress, played the squeeze box.

June is National Accordion Awareness Month, and if you’re asking why this musical instrument needs an awareness month, you’ve just answered your own question.

Accordionist Oscar Forsman of the Upper Peninsula wears his love of the instrument on his sleeve and elsewhere

You may associate the accordion with polka tunes and oom-pah-pah music, but the bellows-driven, reed instrument is quite versatile and shows up in many musical genres, from Cajun to folk, pop, country, tango, Calypso—then there’s Weird Al Yankovic. A favorite jazz group, Hot Club of Detroit, makes extensive use of it.

French native Julien Labro, a virtuoso accordion and bandoneon player, performs on the Hot Club of Detroit CD. The Hot Club style is a mix of modern jazz, swing, and original compositions, with styling a la Django Reinhardt, the famed Belgian Gypsy Jazz guitarist (b. 1910, d. 1953). But, as the Detroit guys say, it’s “far from a traditional gypsy jazz ensemble.”

Great Laker Viola Turpeinen (1909-1958)

The U.S. Library of Congress recognized Finnish American accordion virtuoso Viola Turpeinen and her Kauhavan Polka as one of 25 recordings admitted to the 2024 National Recording Registry. A native of Champion, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Viola (1909-1958) is considered the first woman in the world to record accordion solos.

Don Reinholm at FinnFest 2019

Don Reinholm, extraordinarily versatile with his accordion, plays and records traditional Finnish folk tunes with a few ensembles in the Detroit area, the Upper Peninsula and elsewhere, as well as performing “Vintage Music Reimagined” with Cabaret Boreale.

The quartet includes vocalist Katie Lynne, Phil LaDouceur on bass and tuba, and Andrew Brown on guitar and banjo. Check their website and catch them in Southeast Michigan, including the legendary Cliff Bell’s club in Detroit, on August 10.

For more: National Accordion Awareness Month
Celebrate accordion-ly.

Accordion fun facts:

1. A blue-ribbon panel of experts named the accordion as the instrument most likely to put a smile on your face

2. In 1990 the piano accordion was named the official musical instrument of the city of San Francisco

3. The first U.S.-made piano accordion was made in San Francisco in 1907 by the Guerrini Accordion Company (which explains #2, above)

4. Barry Manilow, Billy Joel and actress Lucy Liu play the accordion

5. The accordion family includes the large piano-style squeeze box as well as Cajun button boxes, chromatic and diatonic button accordions, the concertina, the byan, and the bandoneon

6. Germany, Italy, France and China lead in production of accordions today.
At one time, Castiglione Accordion in Warren, Michigan, started in 1935 by Vincent Castiglione, was the place to go for a squeeze box from 30 manufacturers, including their own instruments.

Check in with the Michigan Accordion Society and American Accordionists’ Association for more info. Real fans will want to visit the World of Accordions Museum in Superior, Wisconsin.

Accordions suspended from the ceiling of Collections Cafe at Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, Washington

Story and photos (except historical) copyright Kath Usitalo.