The CTA event on January 25, 2015 was a great success. CTA president, Marilyn O”Neill said, “The opening act consisted of a trio made up of Bob Vitale, Ralph Corbo on bass guitar and Jack Varanelli on Drums. They played “Besame Mucho”, “Embraceable You” and “Autumn Leaves” and they produced a rich, warm blend of sound that was well received and appreciated by a crowd of nearly 65 people.

Our featured artist, Eddie Monteiro, was joined by Varanelli on drums, and another special guest artist, Mitchell Guido, on sax.This trio met each other for the first time today….and blew the crowd away!

How to describe Eddie’s brilliance??? He is a genius. The people in the audience liked the combination of the 2 of them, but being accordion aficionados,they were really studying Eddie’s
technique, and recognizing him for the master of jazz that he is.Clearly, they realized, as I did once again, that we were being treated to a once in a lifetime performance by a jazz accordionist who is unmatched in terms of his talent.”

Mitch was clearly in awe of Eddie, and very grateful to have the
opportunity to learn from him, and play alongside him. Mitch is 21 years old, a Music Ed student at Queens College. He has been a participant in the AAA’s Youth Involvement Program for the last 2 years. In 2013, Mitch played under the direction of Joe Cerrito, who later invited Mitch to join him when he was a guest artist at a CAA meeting in the fall following the AAA Festival. Mitch rejoined the Youth Involvement Program last summer under the direction of Vladimir Mollov.

The trio played the following selections, complementing each other superbly, though they’d just met only half an hour before they performed together:

1. Here’s That Rainy Day
2. Triste
3. Body And Soul
4. All The Things You Are
5. Cute
6. In A Sentimental Mood
7. Bebe by Hermeto Pascoal followed by A.C. Jobim’s ” One Note Samba “

They delivered a jaw dropping performance. In the audience was young Will Comer, age 16, who participated with Mitch in last year’s Youth Involvement Program. Mitch also participated in the Litchfield Jazz Festival’s Youth Camp last summer as a pianist and accordionist. He was so inspired by this performance! Such an opportunity for young musicians to learn from seasoned accordion artists like Eddie.

The CTA next meeting is a presentation about Anthony Mecca. See article in this publication for details.

Photo of accordionist Eddie Monteiro, percussionist Jack Varinelli, saxophonist Mitchell Guido

For further information: caa@ctaccordion.com