I started playing the accordion when I was 14 and currently own five accordions, one of them awaiting repairs and the other four playable and in regular use. I play all kinds of music on the accordion and was never bothered too much about what others said about the instrument. Yes, of course I encountered all kinds of stories and prejudices and yes, as an accordion lover you need to have a thick skin from time to time, but those who think the accordion isn\u2019t a serious musical instrument probably don\u2019t know enough about it and\/or can\u2019t even play it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let me start talking about Bruce\u2019s wonderful book \u201eThe Accordion Revolution \u2013 A People\u2019s History of the Accordion in North America from the Industrial Revolution to Rock \u201an\u2018 Roll\u201c with a quote from the second chapter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe diversity of accordion-like instruments can seem either confusing or chaotically delightful.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
It takes an expert like Bruce to write a book about it, and not just \u201ea\u201c book. \u201eThe Accordion Revolution\u201c is the<\/strong> book you need when you\u2019re interested in accordions in general and especially when you want to learn more about how the instrument got to North America in the first place and about the many twists and turns of its journey through North American music history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The book was published in June 2019 and so I\u2019m quite late to the party with this blog post. But the good thing about books is that you can still read them years later and this book is absolutely worth it. And this year the accordion was named \u201einstrument of the year\u201c in Germany (more information in German<\/a>), so the book is a perfect fit. There\u2019s no translated version available yet, I\u2019m afraid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can only guess how many hours of research and hard work Bruce put into this concise and well-written book that is almost an encyclopedia, especially when you\u2019re looking at the annotated version.<\/a>
I stand in awe of Bruce\u2019s in-depth knowledge and his ability to write about historical facts and events in such a way that makes you giggle, hold your breath, shake your head and have a mighty good reading time.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFrom Blackface Minstrelsy and not shying away from naming and shaming the inherent racism of these shows, to Vaudeville, Polka, Cajun, Zydeco, Irish &Scottish music tradition to Klezmer, cowboy squeezeboxes and the \u201eaccordion exile in the age of rock\u201c and many more, the book covers probably everything you need to know about the accordion\u2019s history in North America and its players and show people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carefully chosen photographs, record covers, posters and a few technical drawings further enrich this notable book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The book comes as paperback version (that\u2019s the one I have; its EAN is 9781999067700) and as an e-book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n