x

Rios (Saluzzi, Friedman, Cox)

fjuanzkz 2 June 2017

Wow!!! Somehow I missed this album.....what a beautiful record! The instrumentation, the compositions, the understated intensity/groove of the whole thing...so deep. Man, wish I new a burning accordion player to jam with!

Mallets + Accordion = SONIC MAGIC!

Other than this album, Burton/Piazzola, and The Claudia Quintet, I don't know of any other records with both mallets and accordion. Anybody have any other recommendations with that combination?

Comments

David Friedman Sun, 06/04/2017 - 11:52

Hi fjuanzkz,

I'm glad you like the album. I just want to point out that the instrument you are referring to as an accordeon is in actuality a Bandoneon. The instrument is of German origin and was brought to Argentina. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandoneon)

I did, however, do an album for INTUITION records with a wonderful accordianist, Jean-Loius Matinier, called, "Other Worlds", also with Anthony Cox on bass.

fjuanzkz Mon, 06/05/2017 - 14:15

Hey David!

Thanks so much for commenting! Long time fan of your music (recordings and compositions)!

Yes, thank you for the clarification, I was aware of the bandoneon vs. piano accordion distinction, and I should have mentioned that in the post. Obvisously the Burton/Piazzola records are bandoneon as well. And the The Claudia Quintet recordings are piano accordion. I've always heard the bandoneon referred to as a button accordion (incorrect I now realize) which is why I lumped the two together. After a little reading/researching today, I realize the family is more properly referred to as free reed instruments. Thanks for noting the distinction, hopefully now I won't sound like a someone calling a glockenspiel a xylophone. ;-)

I guess my equation should have read:

Mallets + Free Reed Aerophones = SONIC MAGIC!!!!

Glad to learn about the "Other Worlds" album, can't wait to listen to it!

Best, Drew

Babu Tue, 06/06/2017 - 06:52

The main difference is not about buttons vs keyboard, but that bandoneon has chromatic notes on both sides, when accordeon has chromatic notes on right hand and prepared chords and bass notes on the left.

John Keene Fri, 06/09/2017 - 11:41

https://www.amazon.com/State-Art-Van-Damme/dp/B00000AR8N/ref=sr_1_7?s=m…

If you're interested in the combination of accordion and vibes, allow me to recommend this album by Art Van Damme from the 1960s. The Art Van Damme Quintet is basically the George Shearing Quintet lineup with accordion replacing the piano.

There are a lot of CDs by Art available, and I prefer the ones originally on the German MPS label. The only reason is that the Columbia recordings from the 1950s have the vibe motor turned on, and that blend with the accordion really bothers me. The ensemble blend is much better on the MPS albums where the motor is absent, and that also happened to be the approach to the Shearing Quintet as well.

cochranm Thu, 06/08/2017 - 12:54

Curious timing. I happened to be cleaning up some old computer files yesterday and came across a PDF of a lead sheet for "Lunch with Pancho Villa". Don't recall where I got this, but I expect it was some long time ago.

David Friedman Sun, 06/11/2017 - 18:53

That's a tune I've recorded many times in totally different contexts. There's an overdub version on "Air Sculpture",
there's one for trio, Vibes Saxophone and bass, on ""Earfood", There's this version on the "Rios" CD, and one more I can't reallyremember. Plus I ve an arrangement for Big band and for string orchestra that hasn't been recorded yet.

gloria krolak Fri, 06/23/2017 - 17:23

A few years ago I decided to play "Lunch With Pancho Villa" by David Friedman on my radio show - I too love that album, Rios. Anyone who knows me knows that I love learning where titles of tunes come from and I will track it down as far as I can. A recent example: "The Days of Wine and Roses" came from a translation of the 11th century Persian poet, mathematician, and philosopher Omar Khayyam's collection of quatrains, the Rubaiyat. In it he referred to youth as the "season of wine, roses and drunken friends." (I missed out on the roses part.)
This title was very enticing. My research led to a poem by the contemporary Irish poet Paul Muldoon. (He currently lives in Princeton.) It is deep and full of allusions to politics, using the famous Mexican Revolutionary general Pancho Villa to discuss what was happening in Mexico in regards to his native Ireland, and in regards to governments in general. I thought, what a profound thinker David Friedman must be to name a song after that poem.
Two years ago, at the Vibes Congress in Neptune NJ, I asked David about the poem in relation to his composition. He knew nothing of it (or so he said), but instead told me the name came from a rather blue joke with the same subject. I won't repeat the joke here, mainly because it is so unworthy of the tune, but it is easily found on the internet if you are interested.
So David, were you putting me on about the poem vs. the joke? I still love the tune, no matter what your reply.

David Friedman Tue, 06/27/2017 - 15:46

No, Gloria. I wasn't pulling your leg, putting you on, taking the Mickey out of you or any of those wildly used comic devices. I have to admit one more time that I wasn't aware of the poem by Paul Muldoon, although I wish I were so I could appear to be more of a deep thinker in your eyes. No, I'm a simple, kind of shallow New York Vibes player who LOVES bizarre jokes. By the way, there is a video made by Harvey Vogel from Lone Star Percussion, long since retired......any way, he made a video at Leigh Steven's wedding (His first wedding....ages ago!)) of me telling the Pancho Villa joke! He must still have it somewhere, not that it has historical merit or anything...it was just kinda funny.
Anyway, I'm glad you like the tune, at least.

Forums

x
⇡