What?
We went looking for who, what, and where kinds of sites that might list activities, events and dates where accordion lovers will be building awareness during June's National Accordion Awareness Month (NAAM).
Rather odd: Most results are more than ten-years old. What can this mean? We're not interpreting a lack of current year mentions online as the demise of National Accordion Awareness Month. No indeed! A lack of info online just slightly tweaks our blogging direction for this month.
Recall that our parent blog was originally a project for a liberal studies degree class that answered an assignment to find out as much as you can about a country by tracing the history of a musical instrument. Paraphrasing, what do we find out about accordions if we look for as much as we can about the history of June being National Accordion Awareness Month.
So instead of today's post being about the fabulous number of year 2016, up-to-date sites participating in programs or publications or concerts specifically geared to generating accordion awareness, the discovery is that there are one or two comparatively recent contributions.
The Most Recent Award goes to Lit for Kids, a site not aimed at musicians or accordion mechanics, but at parents and teachers supporting children's interests through books.
According to the "about" section of the website & blog, owners Ruth Shagoury and Meghan Rose, love teaching, kids, and books. Shagoury teaches teachers at Lewis & Clark College (Portland, Oregon), and Rose is a parent and Internet guru type who specializes in startups.
In their June 7, 2014 edition of Lit for Kids, they not only wish their readers "Happy Accordion Awareness Month," they also provide a short synopsis of an accordion related book. Available on amazon.com, Mendel's Accordion by Heidi Smith Hyde and illustrated by Johanna Van der Sterre.
According to Lit for Kids, Mendel's Accordion follows a klezmer musician and his family's migration to a new country. Over a generation or two, interest in and enjoyment of "grandpa's music" wanes and his once happy accordion eventually is forgotten in a dusty closet until years and years later, a great grandson becomes "aware" of what the accordion is.
If Accordion Awareness Month seems a bit under played this year, and needs some energizing re-tuning, then Mendel's Accordion is an ironically fitting book to read for the occasion. The story shows that interest in playing the accordion has typically waxed and waned since the instrument was invented. It seems that accordion interests revitalize when a particular type of music becomes popularly vogue, and fortunately during the periods of pop disinterest, the accordion heritages are maintained by individuals who know the importance of preserving artistic components of their cultures.
For instance, at the bottom of the June 2014 post on Lit for Kids, Shagoury and Rose include a link to PBS's online archive of the excellent series, "Accordion Dreams." The series follows the accordion's historical travel from German origins into what is now the State of Texas and documents the button accordion's merge with Mexican musical traditions.
However, klezmer music originates with the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe, and when it reaches the New York area, these accordions begin to play klezmer music inflected with turn-of-the 20th century American jazz.
So, for the beginner who has to look up just about every term related to the object of our curiosity, it turns out that klezmer isn't yet another name for the accordion instrument, but is the name of a type of accordion music! Well, we had to go find some to listen to, didn't we?
Looking turns up -- seriously:
And it is, but while this 2011 post on Accordion Uprising is chock full of links, on the day we explored, some links are troublesome, and some don't play on all browsers. Still the information is definitely a "mother-load" of fascinating accordion history and includes leads to authorities on klezmer music.
Fine info, but what does klezmer music sound like?
Examples are numerous on youtube! We like this 4 minute "Mazal Tov Wedding Medley - Jewish Klezmer Music" from the album, The Klezmer – Clarinet & Violin Best famous Jewish Music.
However, this quiet interlude featuring Jo Brunenberg playing accordion and accompanied only by a violone is a favorite now: "Klezmer music - Yiddisch Mazurka - The Brides Waltz - violone accordion acordeon musica"
Listening to the klezmer music selections is a huge step out of our culture bubble, but we actually heard some refrains recognized from movies and TV programs. Does this mean maybe there's open heart hope for us yet? To properly celebrate National Accordion Awareness Month, let's assume so!
