The NAMM Show, held annunally in LA is for the music trade only and not open to the public with some 86,000 people from the music trade attending.

Ron Lankford of Roland USA reports: “Roland is pleased that the unveiling of the FR-1 V-Accordion for its American release at the NAMM Show was a huge success.”

“The attention that was given to the new FR-1 and the whole Digital V-Accordion line was the best ever. There are now 4 models that are currently available in the Roland digital accordion line-up and even though the FR-1 is the smallest offering, it’s accordion features certainly don’t say entry level.”

“Weighing in at less than 12.5 pounds, 26 treble keys, 72 bass buttons, 4 orchestra voices, 4 organ voices, has 7 accordion models and is a midi controller. It’s certainly not the average beginning accordion.”

“The accordion demonstrations at the Roland NAMM booth were provided by two of the finest, Eddie Monteiro and Cory Pesaturo. For the first time in NAMM history, the accordions were invited to take Center Stage.”

NAMM asked Roland to sponsor a tribute to the accordion recognizing the accordion’s return to popularity. The show received the name “Accordion Palooza”. The stage was located in the middle of the vast central lobby of the convention center. This is a huge area nearly five stories high and three or four hundred feet long. This area is also a transitional space between the two center halls so large numbers of people were constantly walking through on their way to exhibits. It was fun to see one person after another stop to check out the accordion music.

Cory was backed by drummer Mike Snyder and keyboardist Rick DiPiro, this trio had the place rocking in no time. More and more folks paused to listen, and those who stopped, stayed. Cory started the show with a blast that proved the accordion was alive and well at NAMM.

Following Cory, Janet Hane and Wilma Rodriguez were the next to come on stage. Their songs were completely different from Cory, the combination of teacher and student playing fun music had people intrigued, the folks captivated by the Hispanic songs chosen. Janet and Wilma finished up receiving a rousing round of applause.

The next performer was Roland’s famed artist Luigi Bruti who is also Roland’s Director V-Accordion Marketing. Luigi had accompaniment but his was from midi files played through a Roland keyboard. If you have watched Roland presentations on the Internet you likely have seen Luigi explaining the features of Roland accordions. The Internet shows are nice, but Luigi in person was phenomenal.

This artist has a way of finessing every nuance out of the FR7 — he was on top of every note, pause and transition — all perfectly coordinated. The audience was surprised when Luigi left the stage and continued his presentation strolling through the crowd. This man knows how to get and hold the attention of an audience.

The next entertainer was Eddie Monteiro who is widely known for his jazz styles and his fingers that have their own PHd on the bass buttons. Eddie never needs a bassist–his left hand qualifies for its own union card. Eddie’s coordination and combination of accordion, keyboards (modules) and vocal work was another bulls-eye for the Roland show.

Roland had been allotted one hour for the ACCORDION PALOOZA show and we were 50 minutes into the clock, but the knockout was yet to come. For the finale Cory and Eddie were back with Mike on drums and Rick on keyboard. This jam session was designed to show everyone the orchestral sounds of Roland accordions. The finale stopped traffic throughout the lobby. It was like being at a jazz festival, but of course, no surprise if you think about it, we were at a Roland “V” Jazz Festival.

This show was an eye-opener. If anyone wondered about the future of the accordion in the 21st Century they got their answer that morning. The presentation showed the true power of these instruments—the power to entertain and thrill both the player and the listener. The convention attendees that morning all had things to do, places to go, and deals to make–but Roland accordion music caught their attention–and held it.

Friends I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: the accordion is back!