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Time to give accordions their due
By
Lee Benson
Deseret News
columnist
Jay Todd is either
way ahead of his time or way behind. Either way, he wants to
find out.
Jay is curious if there are enough people in the greater
Salt Lake area to form a club dedicated to an instrument that is
bigger than a harmonica, smaller than a piano, harder to play
than the Lakers at the Staples Center, once made Myron Floren a
household name, was played by revolutionaries in 1800s Europe
where it was despised by the establishment, and is the official
instrument of St. Paul, Minn.
You are correct, the accordion.
No, it doesn't appear the accordion is making a
comeback, per se. There are an estimated 75,000 accordionists in
the United States — people to whom you could shout out, "Lady of
Spain" or "Beer Barrel Polka" and they'd know what you're
talking about — and the number is going down, not up.
But many people who used to play the accordion are
apparently making a comeback.
Take the case of Jay's wife, Janet, for instance. Janet
was a champion accordion player growing up in southern
California during the 1950s. By the time she enrolled in college
at Brigham Young University she was good enough to be on the
school's traveling talent shows. In 1965 the accordion took
Janet — and Jay, since they were married by now — around the
world as part of a five-month BYU "Curtain Time U.S.A." tour.
Then along came children, careers, the Beatles and some
unfortunate health problems — and Janet's accordion took its
place at the bottom of the hall closet.
For decades it sat there, and it was not alone. All across
America, accordions found their way to bottoms of hall closets
as the Lawrence Welk Show went off the air and "Lady of Spain"
virtually drifted out of the atmosphere.
Janet's accordion might have stayed dormant if not for an
invitation that came in the mail last year to attend an
accordion convention in Las Vegas.
Out of curiosity more than anything else, Jay and Janet
went.
They discovered that the accordion ain't dead yet.
"We met the most wonderful people," says Jay. "They're an
engaging band of people who play that challenging instrument.
The music they play tends to be wholesome, uplifting, happy,
joyful. It's a good contribution to society."
The Todds liked the gathering in Las Vegas so much that
they subsequently attended the celebrated Cotati accordion
festival in California, where no less than 10,000 fellow
enthusiasts filled the small town north of San Francisco for an
entire weekend.
Many of these enthusiasts spoke of home-town clubs where
they feed their accordion passion throughout the year.
Which led to Jay's question: Is Salt Lake ready for an
accordion club?
So Jay has reserved a hall at the South Valley
Unitarian Universalist building at 6876 S. Highland Drive for
Tuesday night, Jan. 14. He and Janet will be there at 7 p.m. Jay
is spreading the word wherever and whenever he can that all
accordion enthusiasts are invited to join them.
"If enough people show up," says Jay, "We'll organize a
club."
And if enough people don't show up, no problem. Jay and
Janet will simply pack up their accordion and move on. It's one
of the great things about the instrument: It travels well.
Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and
Friday. Please send e-mail to
benson@desnews.com and
faxes to 801-237-2527.
Recent Lee Benson columns
Deseret News Link:
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