An annual concert titled ‘Accordion-O-Rama’ took place on Friday July 31st, 8pm, at Crossings, 320 East Ave., Zumbrota, Minnesota. Performing were accordionists Dan ‘Daddy Squeeze’ Newton and Mark Stillman, and the German-born bandoneon player Bob Barnes.
“This show proves that the accordion is anything but passe,” said Marie Marvin of Crossings. “I’m not sure what ever gave us the idea to have three or four accordions on stage at one time; maybe it was just how truly ludicrous the whole idea was. But we stopped laughing when the concert sold out — as it does year after year. Our patrons knew better than we did how great the music is.”
Newton enjoys mixing up styles and genres that don’t generally seem compatible. “Ethno-clectic Bop” is the result of his genre-bending experiments with Celtic, Tex-Mex, Creole, Blues, Jazz, Scandinavian, Polka and pop music.
A Minnesota-based accordionist, singer and composer, Newton has been dazzling audiences since 1987 with his sparkling skills and mind boggling repertoire. A performance by Newton is like a one-man festival of world music. He has a command of many styles including French Musette, Jug band, Country Blues, Cajun, Zydeco, Tex-Mex, and much more. He uses his astonishing squeeze-box prowess to support a warm, inviting vocal style and seasons his performance with stories that are both humorous and enlightening.
Stillman is a self-taught accordionist who learned much of his repertoire in his travels throughout Eastern Europe. He often plays Klezmer music, which is a fusion of styles including jazz, swing, and traditional Jewish wedding music, but he’s steeped in the folk music of Eastern Europe, Greece, Celtic tradition, France and Italy, as well.
A classically-trained percussionist, Stillman has been a featured soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Minneapolis Pops Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Minnesota Sinfonia, the Dallas Brass, and on A Prairie Home Companion, and has performed for the recordings of the multi-ethnic rock group Boiled in Lead.
Barnes was born in Frankfort, Germany. He plays the bandoneon in Mandrágora which plays a weekly Sunday night Milonga at the Loring Pasta Bar in Minneapolis. In 2003, Barnes added a piano and a string quartet to the mix and created the Mandrágora Tango Orchestra, a larger group dedicated to more symphonic tango styles.
