What makes a jazz accordion a jazz accordion….

[Elizabeth]

What makes a jazz accordion a jazz accordion? A folk accordion a folk accordion?an all purpose accordion an all purpose?

And another thing, who has traveled with their accordion on a smaller plane, like. Bombardier q 400 turbo prop? Is it safe to put your instrument on one of those luggage carts that they position right outside the entry doors to the plane for those carry ons that are just too big?

Thank you!

 

[debra]

One thing that makes a jazz accordion a jazz accordion is the range of notes in the most mellow register. On most accordions the L (16-foot) register is the most mellow (on both black and white keys, where the M register is less mellow on the black keys). Some brands (including for instance Victoria) make accordions with 42 notes, from low G to high C, so that you can play higher in the L register.
Regarding travel: there is only one really safe way to travel with your accordion and that is to put it on a seat (next to you). Some airlines let you book a seat for a musical instrument. (Ryanair is one of them.) On some airplanes it is possible to place oversized carry-on inside the cabin in a special location but typically the airlines have no procedure that lets you claim that spot for your instrument.

 

[Elizabeth]

One thing that makes a jazz accordion a jazz accordion is the range of notes in the most mellow register. On most accordions the L (16-foot) register is the most mellow (on both black and white keys, where the M register is less mellow on the black keys). Some brands (including for instance Victoria) make accordions with 42 notes, from low G to high C, so that you can play higher in the L register.
Regarding travel: there is only one really safe way to travel with your accordion and that is to put it on a seat (next to you). Some airlines let you book a seat for a musical instrument. (Ryanair is one of them.) On some airplanes it is possible to place oversized carry-on inside the cabin in a special location but typically the airlines have no procedure that lets you claim that spot for your instrument.

Thanks so much paul. !how did you become such a wellspring of technical, detailed information!
I am going to measure the case and call the airline and ask if it would fit in the overhead of that particular plane. It would be nice to have a plan ahead of time…

 

[losthobos]

The player.....

 

[Ventura]

your fingers feel light.. the melody and lyrics and rhythm inspire you to take off
from their beginnings and find new paths that relate but are different

you don't really know what note you are going to hit next, but it might
be any.. anywhere.. and many or only the ones needed at the moment..

so the reeds MUST be smooth.. and quick.. you cannot afford to have
a few low L reeds react sluggishly and you might need the M reeds to be amazing
(hence, why we may have multiple M reeds tuned in unison)

the tone needs to be an inspiring level of purity

and the keyboard itself.. just touching the keys should be all you need
so you don't even have to think about anything other than the next
note you want to play, (some call this a short throw action)

it is also a big plus if the accordion is light enough to stroll
with, because Jazz makes your feet move and it is fun to
let the audience have closeups of your fingers in motion

the last thing is that a Jazz Accordion remembers to bring the audience back
around because sometimes it gets so out in space they can forget what
song was being played ! so the final chorus always brings them back to the first

 

[debra]

Thanks so much paul. !how did you become such a wellspring of technical, detailed information!
I am going to measure the case and call the airline and ask if it would fit in the overhead of that particular plane. It would be nice to have a plan ahead of time…

There is so much more about accordions that I do not know... JimD knows a lot more. There is a enormous amount of information about accordions, especially scientific and technical information that we cannot yet explore/find because it has not yet been researched. When I'm repairing or tuning accordions I'm always finding new issues for which I have been unable to find the source, analysis and/or solution...

 

[saundersbp]

The player.....

Absolutely!

A good Jazz musician is a sort of ultimate musician. It's a myth that it's casual or 'they don't know what's coming next'. Jazz musicians are incredibly musically literate, a massive education in music that is traditionally absorbed aurally and then practiced like hell. A little figure or musical sequence that is trivial in itself can be turned over and played with so intelligently that a great oak grows from a little acorn. They have an ingrained sense of structure. Many admire Bach as this is exactly how he made music. If you can really play Jazz, classical music is a walk in the park....

 

[losthobos]

Jazz musicians may we'll be able to throw their food in the air, mix ingredients and tastes, regurgitate and build afresh but as @saundersbp implies...if Bach hadn't laid the table ready there'd be no banquet......
The more I study these theories and concepts the less I know ...except that playing the jazz standards does not make one a jazz musician...it merely reminds you what a beginner you really are....
Bon appetit....

 

[Elizabeth]

your fingers feel light.. the melody and lyrics and rhythm inspire you to take off
from their beginnings and find new paths that relate but are different

you don't really know what note you are going to hit next, but it might
be any.. anywhere.. and many or only the ones needed at the moment..

so the reeds MUST be smooth.. and quick.. you cannot afford to have
a few low L reeds react sluggishly and you might need the M reeds to be amazing
(hence, why we may have multiple M reeds tuned in unison)

the tone needs to be an inspiring level of purity

and the keyboard itself.. just touching the keys should be all you need
so you don't even have to think about anything other than the next
note you want to play, (some call this a short throw action)

it is also a big plus if the accordion is light enough to stroll
with, because Jazz makes your feet move and it is fun to
let the audience have closeups of your fingers in motion

the last thing is that a Jazz Accordion remembers to bring the audience back
around because sometimes it gets so out in space they can forget what
song was being played ! so the final chorus always brings them back to the first

Thank you so much for all your thoughts! Wow! So poetic too.

 

[Elizabeth]

Absolutely!

A good Jazz musician is a sort of ultimate musician. It's a myth that it's casual or 'they don't know what's coming next'. Jazz musicians are incredibly musically literate, a massive education in music that is traditionally absorbed aurally and then practiced like hell. A little figure or musical sequence that is trivial in itself can be turned over and played with so intelligently that a great oak grows from a little acorn. They have an ingrained sense of structure. Many admire Bach as this is exactly how he made music. If you can really play Jazz, classical music is a walk in the park....

Thank you so much tor your detailed and inspiring reply.

 

[Elizabeth]

Jazz musicians may we'll be able to throw their food in the air, mix ingredients and tastes, regurgitate and build afresh but as @saundersbp implies...if Bach hadn't laid the table ready there'd be no banquet......
The more I study these theories and concepts the less I know ...except that playing the jazz standards does not make one a jazz musician...it merely reminds you what a beginner you really are....
Bon appetit....

Thank you! A poetic reply as well. And how true…the comment that the more we study the less we know…

 

[AccordionUprising]

I don't know what the earliest jazz accordionists in 1890s New Orleans heard and played. But that didn't last long in the tradition.
The earliest jazz recordings by players like Cornell Smelser, Mario Perry, and Buster Moten sound quite brash and "reedy". They don't really fit in well with the rest of the horns etc in my opinion.
In the 1940s or so artists like Ernie Felice added mutes to their instruments that softened the tone. To me that's the "jazz accordion" sound, like the muted sound of a jazz guitar through a clean Polytone amp. (Polytone was started by accordionist Tommy Gumina.)

 

[Ffingers]

I don't know what the earliest jazz accordionists in 1890s New Orleans heard and played. But that didn't last long in the tradition.
The earliest jazz recordings by players like Cornell Smelser, Mario Perry, and Buster Moten sound quite brash and "reedy". They don't really fit in well with the rest of the horns etc in my opinion.
In the 1940s or so artists like Ernie Felice added mutes to their instruments that softened the tone. To me that's the "jazz accordion" sound, like the muted sound of a jazz guitar through a clean Polytone amp. (Polytone was started by accordionist Tommy Gumina.)

My never ending question "What exactly do you define as ...?"

My preference is New Orleans style parade/street music - Miles Davis' 'style' leaves me dead.

The beauty is in the perception of the listener/practitioner, so to speak

Pidgeonholing is the death of creativity - just think Paganini and his little recognised guitar music (he is said to have been an accomplised player).

I had an In-Law who played brass - anything from piccolo trumpet to euphonium and anything from Hummel to imitating Louis Armstrong to military marching music.
Handy on a honky-tonk piano, too.
One of our local Symphony orchestra clarinet/bassoon/oboe players, unfortunately now deceased, recorded a beautiful rendering of Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' on harmonica accompanied by members of that orchestra.

 

[Elizabeth]

Oh thank you so much! That nugget of history is so interesting!

 

[Walker]

I once asked a jazz accordionist on the forum about the best jazz accordions:

Jazz accordion
Excelsior, Guilietti, Petosa Sonola are all great
The very best accordion is Gola
Bellows hardly move, compression, 26lbs, balanced. The best of all but tuned 4.5.
But you must play it before buying as they are not all same
Excelsior S Grand ismello sweet bassoon
But must hear
Go on You tube to hear Dave Magliozi Sonola SS7 play Blue Bossa
Mellow jazz sound from bassoon from Sonola
The old Sonola SS20 is wonderful. It has the straight switches rather than the newer curved switches

Seems to me a jazz accordion is just an accordion that jazz musicians like to play.

 

[Elizabeth]

I don't know what the earliest jazz accordionists in 1890s New Orleans heard and played. But that didn't last long in the tradition.
The earliest jazz recordings by players like Cornell Smelser, Mario Perry, and Buster Moten sound quite brash and "reedy". They don't really fit in well with the rest of the horns etc in my opinion.
In the 1940s or so artists like Ernie Felice added mutes to their instruments that softened the tone. To me that's the "jazz accordion" sound, like the muted sound of a jazz guitar through a clean Polytone amp. (Polytone was started by accordionist Tommy Gumina.)

Thanks so much! I really like your comments.

 

[Elizabeth]

I once asked a jazz accordionist on the forum about the best jazz accordions:



Seems to me a jazz accordion is just an accordion that jazz musicians like to play.

Excellent, succinct point, thank you!

 

[Elizabeth]

Oh thanks for your reply and interesting points and descriptors!

 

[Jim2010]

The link below is to a previous discussion with and about jazz accordionists, along with transcriptions and re-recordings of some of their solos. It might be useful to listen to the re-recordings made by Julien Labro (using what I am guessing is the same accordion) to hear if that one accordion can be made (by an elite performer, of course) to sound like the various accordions used in the originals (assuming you have them or can find them).

Jazz Accordion Solos

There is a new accordion youtube channel—Jazz Accordion Solos— that consists of transcriptions of jazz accordion solos by artists such as George Shearing, Buster Moten, Art Van Damme, Alice Hall, Gus Viseur, Tommy Gumina, Pete Jolly, Johnny Meijer, Matt Mathews, and Frank Marocco. Yesterday, the...

www.accordionists.info

 

[Elizabeth]

Thank you, Jim!