Copyright 2008 Polish American Journal
last update 26 June 2009
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Dennis Polisky and The Maestro's Men have released their new cd "Don't Stop The Music". Their new cd features vocals by Jackie Libera, Rich Bernier and special guest Eddie Skinger. The cd contains 17 selections of Polkas, Obereks and Waltz.
“Don’t Stop The Music” - What a befitting title by Dennis Polisky and The Maestro's Men. A legacy and final advice left to the Polka Hall of Famer by his beloved dad, Ray Polisky. A must have for those who enjoy that snappy, crisp, toe tapping stylings of the Maestro's Men. Dennis, Jackie, Richie, Ken, Andy and Jim have consistently and professionally performed some of the best tunes available to our Polka public. This album follows that long tradition along with guest vocalist the "platinum voice" of Eddie Skinger.
Whether you hear the group live or your exposure to their music is limited to their recordings, you will agree with me when I say, "Don't Stop The Music"!
SYRACUSE -- Fritz's Polka Band (FPB) from Verona, New York has won their first ever Syracuse-Area Music Award (SAMMY). FPB's 2008 recording, "Reflections," which featured all original FPB songs,won in the “Best Recording Other Styles” category. The SAMMY Award was presented to Fritz Scherz, band leader of Fritz’s Polka Band, and Mike Faraino (who’s been drumming quite a bit for FPB lately) on June 5th on the "Taste of Syracuse" main stage in downtown Syracuse, NY.
"I just want to thank all our great fans for making this possible," exclaimed Fritz Scherz during his acceptance speech on the main stage. "I might get a little long-winded here, but this really means so much to me! I want to take time to recognize the guys in my band, Rick, Frank, Tom, Gabe, my Dad, Mike, who’s right here next to me, and George. Speaking of my Dad, I want to give a special shout out to him, as he’s home recovering from neck surgery. But, he’ll be back stronger than ever. I’d much rather have a SAMMY than a Grammy, since they dropped their polka category yesterday (June 4th). Last but not least, a special thanks to the best sponsor in the world, Jagermeister!”
Fritz's Polka Band has been performing for over 30 years, and made history in 1999, when they became the first polka band to perform at a Woodstock Festival in Rome, NY. In November 2008, FPB won an Upper State Independent Award in Syracuse, NY, in the International Category.
For more information on the SAMMYs, go to: www.syracuseareamusic.com. For more info on FPB, go to: FRITZS POLKA BAND.
Don't miss the 29th Annual "Dozynki" Polish-American Festival at Immaculate Conception Church, 25 Parker Street Indian Orchard, MA which will feature three days of live music! It all takes place Friday, July 17 through Sunday, July 19, 2009.
Saturday will offer a 4 p.m. Polka Mass with Dave Gawronski & Musical Magic followed by the STOP Band from Rhode Island
Sunday presents Lenny Gomulka & his Chicago Push alternating with The Rythym Band from 2 p.m. - 10 p.m.
For More Information Call (413) 543-3659
LEROY, N.Y. -Accordions and more accordions will be featured at the Accordion Fest sponsored by the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council, Sunday, August 2, 2009, at the LeRoy Country Club, 7759 East Main Rd. (Route 5), LeRoy. Admission is free for this 1-5 p.m. event hosted by the LeRoy Country Club.
Accordion music from Italian, Irish, Polish, and Eastern European traditions; mini concerts by Nordavind and The Irish Party House Band; and "open mike” sessions. There will also be displays of historical accordions and Q & A with Roxy's Music. Free/open to the public, there will be a full menu and lighter fare available at the Country Club. Please bring your lawn chairs. This event is presented with support from the Folk Arts Program of the New York State Council on the Arts. For more info call Karen Canning at 585-343-9313; or email: info@goart.org .
PARM, OHIO -Cleveland Polka Association's Christmas in July with Santa, Koledy and the music of Andy Fenus & the Trel Tones will take place Sunday, July 19, 2009 at St.Sava's Picnic Grove 2300 W. Ridgewood Drive in Parma. Gates open at 2 p.m. with music from 3-7 p.m. Admission is $10.00. For more Info call: 216.661.5227.
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -The daily band schedule for the 2009 Polka Fireworks has been released. Thursday, July 2, will feature Polka Family and Andy Fenus & the Trel-Tones. Friday, July 3rd, is will be Pan Franek & the Polkatowners, The Maestro's Men, Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones, Mon Valley Push, Tony Blazonczyk's New Phaze, Big Lou & Her Polka Caserole, and Buffalo Concertina All-Stars in the halls. Henny & the Versa J's will play at poolside with the "After Jam" featuring Party Time. Saturday, July 4, lists Polka Family, Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones, The Knewz, The Boys, Jimmy K & Ethnic Jazz, The Maestro's Men, and Stephanie & Her Honky Band. The Dynabrass will at the pool and Mon Valley Push will play the After Jam. Sunday, July 5, will feature a Polka Mass with The Touch of Brass. In the hall will be The Dynabrass, Ray Jay & The Carousels, and The Touch of Brass.
The 35th annual Polka Fireworks Festival will take Wednesday through Sunday, July 1-5, 2009 at the Seven Springs Mountain Resort. For more information contact: BEL-AIRE ENTERPRISES, 7208 S. Harlem Avenue, Bridgeview, Illinois 60455, PHONE: (708) 594-5182
Wouldn't you like that old Budzilek vinyl record or that Versatones 45rpm collection you have on CD? Magic Sound Restoration™ on the internet at lp2cd.com offers a service that many in the polka world might find just perfect for them.
Magic Sound Restoration™ accepts old recordings in any format and gives them new life in today's digital world. Dedicated to the effort of restoring and preserving precious sound recordings they transfer LP albums 78's, 45's, 8-tracks, cassettes and reel-to-reels to CD's.
For more details and a complete listing of all their services, visit: lp2cd.com
Dick Pillar Enterprises, Inc regrets to inform the polka public that after much consideration and soul searching, two major Pillar events planned for 2009 will be put on hold for a year until 2010.
Regarding the 44th Annual July Polkabration, Pillar was informed by the casino Sports & Entertainment Department that the Banquet Department, which controls renting of the ballroom, states that the ballroom for Saturday July 25th had been contracted out for a private engagement. The Mohegan Tribe who have assured Pillar that Polkabration is always welcome at Mohegan Sun, suggested that an alternate date be considered. When no suitable alternate date could be found…one that would not conflict with any other major polka summer event… Pillar decided to wait until next year to reschedule a 2010 Polkabration.
In regards to the annual fall polka weekend, after extensive negotiations with hotel management, Pillar could not agree to additional terms and conditions which might have required a change in some top notch bands as well as changes in other features of the weekend for which they have been known for. It was thereby decided to eliminate the 2009 weekend in the hopes that a 2010 event can be scheduled.
Another major factor in Pillar’s decision is the current state of the economy which has had an impact on attendance at polka events. The Pillar’s hope that the economy will rebound within the next year allowing more polka fans to participate in future polka events.For the latest information on Pillar events refer to our web site at www.dickpillar.com (our next event is on December 2,2008 at Aqua Turf).
Dick & JoAnne wish to thank the polka fans, bands and promoters who have supported them thoughout our many years, and we sincerely look forward to providing you with more great polka events in 2010. After 52 years of promoting polkas it is appropriate that we take a brief “time out.” Please stay tuned for future announcements!
Those who have traveled and toured Poland in the past know that there’s much to take in, a lot to see, questions to be answered and a jubilant time awaiting you. On the other hand, first time Poland travelers are being informed that it’s important to select just the right group to travel to Poland with.
The itinerary, Polish & English speaking guides, sightseeing and if applicable free time to yourself for exploring are all ingredients making up the value of a perfect Poland vacation. Lenny Gomulka & Mitch Biskup have organized their 3rd trip to Poland coming up in 2009, taking a group from the U.S. and Canada and it promises to be a trip to remember.
This exciting Poland adventure is scheduled from May 28 through June 7, 2009. Flights are arranged from Chicago and New York City into Warsaw, Poland where you’ll be greeted, informed and pampered for the next 10 days. The sights of beautiful Poland will take your breath away with visits to Warsaw, Lublin, Krakow, Rzeszow, Zakopane relaxing at luxurious hotels. Polka parties with Lenny & Mitch, tours to Czesztochowa, the salt mines and jam sessions with the Gorale are all just a part of this exciting Tour to Poland 2009 vacation with Lenny Gomulka & Mitch Biskup.
Get all the details and find out the additional attributes that make this the Poland Trip of choice. Call or write: PAT Tours. 1285 Riverdale Street, West Springfield, MA 01089 or call toll-free 1(800) 388-0988. You can also obtain a printable flyer and registration form on-line at www.chicagopush.com. Jedziemy do Polski
Has there ever been a polka fan club that has reached the ultimate number of 35 years in existence? The only one that comes to mind is the Versatones’ Fan Club.
This year with great pride, Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones are estatic to announce hat the Versatones’ Fan Club celebrates its 35th anniversary. The Fan club boasts that it is still going strong and hopes to reach the next milestone.
The birth of the fan club began as a group of loyal fans and friends of the Versatones were sitting around discussing how they could further their support of the band. Alas, came the idea of forming a fan club. With pen in hand, officers were elected, by-laws were drawn up, and plans to host annual events were begun.
Exactly what is the purpose of this fan club and what does this fan club accomplish during any given years? The primary purpose of this organization is to promote polka music and entertainment, help spread good cheer to the less fortunate, and support Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones.
Each year the fan club hosts a dance featuring live radio broadcast along with music provided by two live polka bands. This even has drawn polka fans from Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania, California and Hawaii as well as right in Illinois. Through the efforts and generosity of various individuals and organizations, the club has raised funds that are distributed to various charities. Some of the charities that have benefited include Pediatric Oncology hospitals, Paget Foundation, Alzheimer Association, Bear Necessities, Juvenile Diabetic Foundation, Catholic Charities, Muscular Dystrophy, Kidney Foundation and many personal individual fundraisers, just to highlight a few.
The fan club still remains strong today thanks to the diligent hard work of the current board and member base. Members span throughout the states of Illinois, Wiconsin, Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. Current board members include: President- Trudy Patek; Vice President – Laura Bethke; Secretary – Josephine Malinowski; Treasurer – Chet Kowalkowski; Sergeant at Arms – Norb Studnicka; Chaplin – Diana Szalkus; Directors – Tish Blazonczyk, Brian Szumigalski and Tony Szalkus. The Versatones Fan Club wishes to thank everyone who attend their functions and to those who support the Versatones and polka music. The fun club looks forward to many more years of promoting polka music.
ALLENTOWN, PA. --2007 Grammy nominated accordionist/trumpeter Alex Meixner launches Meixner Music Productions to release his latest CD, Family Tradition (MMP-2008-1_ This CD features 19 selections that honor a musical legacy that has developed in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania from Meixner's family roots in Austria. Traditional selections and more contemporary styled interpretations are interwoven to provide a snapshot of Alex's current musical directions.
The repertoire includes new compositions by Alex, as well as some selections written by his father, Al Meixner, and songs that have been performed by Meixner bands for 4 generations.
"It was an exciting process to combine all of these different styles - as well as limit the list to only 19 tunes! says Alex, 31, a resident of Allentown, PA.
From the country-polka strains of the title track to the French and Italian style of "Zoey Lynn" waltz, named for Alex's young daughter, Alex is expanding his range as a composer in the folkd idioms. As an arranger, he reset his father's composition "Moatz's Boarischer" in a funky folk setting, added Swing and Polish Polka styles to the Mexican flavored "Peanuts" and updated some classic Slovenian polkas in "Button Box Bonanza Medley." to give a variety of sounds to the audience. International polka styles, world music from around the globe and even a little Dixieland come together to form a seamless musical blend.
The CD is available online at:WWW.CDBABY.COM/MEIXNERALEX and in the mail from Meixner Music Productions, 3440 Lehigh St #245, Allentown, PA 18103.
Jimmy K & Ethnic Jazz, from Cleveland, Ohio, announce the release of their latest recording, which is now available on CD. A Bright Idea features fourteen songs, including thirteen vocals, with original songs sprinkled throughout the project.
Led by veteran “Jimmy K” Krzeszewski (accordion & vocals), the band features plenty of veteran talents on this recording, including Jason Uzl (trumpet & vocals), Joe Rosinski (drums), Verne Maddie (concertina & bass), Rich Benkowski (concertina), and some great guest work by Dave Pietrzak (sax & clarinet).
The CD features a mix of Polish & English vocals, even a song in Finnish. From the first song , an original titled “Not So Much”, each track adds it’s own distinct personality to the recording.
This CD will be available at all Ethnic Jazz performances, and through Jimmy K Polkas. Jimmy K Polkas
Mail order customers can send $15 (includes postage) to: Jimmy K Polkas, PO Box 360855, Strongsville, OH 44136 Call Toll Free 1-866-454-6695 to order by phone.
DJ’s and IJ’s may please contact Ethnic Jazz for your promotional copy at the address above, or e-mail info@ethnicjazzohio.com. Visit the Ethnic Jazz web site at: EthnicJazzOhio.Com.
What could be more rewarding than leveraging polka music to help get medical treatment for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases? Such are the rewards from Polkas For Charity’s first polka CD project, “Let’s Get This Party Started!”. Polkas For Charity is an initiative founded by Ted Borzymowski that brings polka musicians together to perform and record polka music to benefit specific charities. Thanks to the combined musical efforts of Lenny Gomulka, Frankie Liszka, Hank Guzevich, Ryan Ogrodny, Mark Trzepac, Johnny Karas, Gennarose, Greg Guzevich, Chris Borkowski, Rick Olaguer, Bob McBride, Chris Huntington, Wally Dombrowski, and Ted Borzymowski on their “Let’s Get This Party Started” polka CD, over $15,000 in sales proceeds have been raised to benefit the world-renowned St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. In keeping with Danny Thomas’ dream that “no child should die in the dawn of life”, St. Jude’s treats all patients without regard to the family’s ability to pay.
To add icing to the cake, “Let’s Get This Party Started!” was also recognized with two noteworthy polka awards. First, the United States Polka Association voters found Ted Borzymowski’s CD jacket concept to be their “2007 Favorite Cover Design”. Furthermore, listeners of the polka Internet web site www.247PolkaHeaven.com voted the CD as their “#1 Polish-style CD for 2007”. Congratulations to Ted and all the musical contributors!
If you’d like to share in the rewards of the award-winning, “Let’s Get This Party Started!”, visit www.polkasforcharity.com , contact Ted at ted@polkasforcharity.com or write Polkas For Charity, P.O. Box 835, Fallston, MD, 21047-0835. Your $17 check not only gets you an awesome polka CD, but also helps a sick child get precious medical care. By the way, Polkas For Charity is already working on its next charitable project. More rewards (and perhaps awards) are in the making. Stay tuned!
STREAMWOOD, IL. –K & C Entertainment has released two new compact discs, Grammy Gold and Hooray 4 Honky.
Grammy Gold features 22 polka hits by Jimmy Sturr and his Orchestra. With 16 Grammy wins to his name, the Sturr Orchestra is on the top-ten list of all-time Grammy Awards and has acquired more Grammy Nominations than anyone in the history of musical polka awards.
K & C’s own Keith Stras can been seen each week on the Jimmy Sturr TV show on RFD-TV network, a network devoted to rural America.
Hooray for Honky is an all-new live CD featuring 22 tracks by Ray “J,” Stephanie, Chet Kowalkowski, Casey Homel, Hank Guzevich, Keith Stras and others. Mixed and mastered by Gary Rhamy of Peppermint, no aficionado of honky style polka music should be without this CD.
Just like its predecessor, Honky Holiday, this disc brings you all the fun and excitement as it was recorded, “live” at the “hub of polka activity,” Chicago’s Crown Jewel, Glendora Banquets, and it features the hit tune, “Hooray 4 Honky.”
For ordering details visit: www.kncentertains.com or by calling toll free: 866.269.6746.
BINGHAMTON, NY -- PAJ Polka Editor, Steve Litwin, is now on MYSPACE. To augment the polka related sites he currently maintains on the internet, Litwin established a site on MYSPACE to publicize his love for the concertina and polka music.
Involved with polka music for over 40 years, Steve Litwin and his wife, Adele, started the "Concertina Jam" as part of the Polka Fireworks festival, at the Seven Springs Resort, in 1984.
Concertina Jam 2008, the 25th year, will take place Friday, July 4 at the Polka Fireworks event.
visit www.myspace.com/concertinaman.
Searching through a multi-collection of polka related items, PAJ Polka Editor Steve Litwin came across a unique piece of polka history from his days in the Buffalo, NY area. This item, now over 38 years old, has been scanned and posted Litwin's personal POLKAEDITOR.COM site.
The Polish Connection Band from Central Wisconsin has released a new compact disc entitled Good Clean Fun.
This 14 track recording features Russ Mancl on drums and vocals, Ron Raczkowski on trumpet, Wally Raczkowski on trumpet, clarinet, alto sax and vocals, Paul Schulfer on concertina and vocals, Mike Schumacher on accordion, and Curt Traska on bass and vocals. Mitch Kempinski adds his touch on piano, guitar and strings while the clarinet expertise of Eddie Siwiec can be heard on "Get Acquainted."
On Calf's Head Records the recording and engineering was done by Jeff Mleczko with Gary Rhamy's Peppermint Studio handling the mixing and mastering.
For more information on the band and Good Clean Fun, visit the band's website, www.polishconnection.com. or email: walrazz@charter.net.
The legendary Li'l Wally made several appearances on the Lawrence Welk TV show, promoting Polish Polka music. Here is just one video cut on Youtube with Wally at his best.Li'l Wally on Welk Show on Youtube..
The Nickel City Notes of Buffalo, New York announced the release of their first CD entitled Spare Change. This CD spotlights the talent of Frank Zeczak (Clarinet, Sax, Trumpet, and Vocals), Dennis Paner (Trumpet and Vocals), Larry Chadwick (Bass and Vocals), Mike Kurdziel (Drums and Vocals), Casey Klizak (Concertina) and Mike Nowakowski (Piano/Keyboard). Spare Change was recorded at My House Productions, engineered by Mike Nowak and Bruce Nowak, mixed by Mike Nowak, with Larry Chadwick the Producer and Mike Nowakowski the Executive Producer. This CD is released on Sunshine, SNCD-232, P.O. Box 652, West Seneca, NY 14221, www.sdemusic.com.
Spare Change features the following songs:
Rick Piotrowski, leader of the Florida based Orlando Polkamagic Band, has confirmed rumors of the band’s termination, and is announcing his retirement from polka music in Florida, effective after the OPM’s final performance on Feb. 3, 2008.
Piotrowski attributed his decision to disband and retire after 40 years in polka field to the ever increasing travel expenses, costs to maintain the band, the difficulty in finding good musicians willing to travel, and career and family conflicts.
Originally from Utica, N.Y., Piotrowski started in the polka industry in 1968 at the age of 11, and in that time played in his local family band from Utica as a youngster, and a three year stint with the Dynatones before relocating to Florida in 1980. He has played with such greats as Lil’Wally, Marion Lush, Eddie Blazonczyk’s Versatones, and “Connecticut Stas’ Przasnyski. Piotrowski started OPM in 1990, and the band has played in 11 states across the Midwest and Northeast, in addition to virtually everywhere in their home state of Florida. They have three CD releases to their credit.
Piotrowski plans on staying active in the music industry with some future recording projects, doing some occasional gigs with a Orlando based pop/jazz group, and also plans on rejoining his amateur senior baseball team, as well as doing some traveling with his wife Lauri.
The group has put together a finale weekend in January, taking them to the Villages on Thursday, Jan. 3, Eustis, Fl. Friday, Jan. 4., Daytona Beach Saturday, Jan. 5, and Cape Coral on Sunday, Jan. 6. Their final performance will be at the Vero Beach Polish American Club on Sunday, Feb.3. , which seems a fitting place to end, since this is where the band played it’s first job in April of 1990. The following week, Feb. 9-16, Piotrowski will join Lenny Gomulka, Jimmy Weber, Al Piatkowski, Mike Matousek, Joe Oberatis, and others, on a polka cruise with the stars, then officially begin his retirement.
Rick Piotrowski would like to thank all the band’s friends and fans, clubs and promoters, for all their support throughout the years, and especially his fellow OPM band members, past and present, for their hard work, sacrifice, time away from their families, and unselfish giving of their talents for these past eighteen years.
Dziekuje I Bog Zaplac’ !!!
By popular demand, Dick Pillar brings back the musical sounds and excitement of The Golden Brass from their original Steljo hit, Polka Star Series LP recording on CD format.
Presenting the excellent musical sounds on this album are: Mitch Biskub on bass, Bill Czupta the arranger, on lead accordion, Steve Dudas on trumpet, Carl Hoynowski on trumpet, Tom Kostek on rhythm accordion, Roger Lichwala on drums and Ken Morey on piano. Bill are Carl are also featured on the vocals.
This recording features 12 fabulous selections which have captured the thrill and excitement of The Gold Brass, which made them an instant polka sensation.
Write: Steljo Recordings, 36 Occum Lane, Uncasville, CT 06383. On the internet visit the Pillar website at: www.dickpillar.com.
WRYM radio, located in the Hartford, CT area started to air the syndicated Jimmy Sturr Radio show on Sunday, October 21, 2007. Sturr's show, a one-hour show presently being heard on 23 stations around the country, will air from 6:30 to 7:30 every Sunday morning. This is the same station that broadcast "live" from the Hartford Polish Home with John Jeski for nearly 30 years. The station covers a large listening area going as far north as Springfield/Southbridge, Mass and as far south as Bridgeport, Conn. Going to the west it can be listened to in Danbury and as far east as New London, Conn.
If you live in that area, join Jimmy Sturr every Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m. The station is located at 840 on your AM dial. The show will soon move to a later spot in the day.
FLORIDA, N.Y. –K & C Records has released a CD called Grammy Gold featuring Jimmy Sturr & his Orchestra. The recording was originally released in album form,. Now its available for the first time on CD. The new recording was previously release on two albums, I Remember Warsaw and A Polka Just For Me. Both recordings won Grammys for Jimmy and the Band. Write: Starr-Records, Box 1, Florida, NY 10921.
Eddie Cnota and the C-Notes recorded an LP which was released on Ridgemoor Records featuring vocalist Florian Dynek. The lyrics and music were mostly original. It was successful and soon another album was recorded but never released. The company ran into financial difficulties and folded. It's stock and masters were purchased by Chicago Polkas. The master tape of the second album was missing, however. Lo and behold, after all these years, Florian Dynek came up with a duplicate tape made from the original. Only one selection on this old duplicate was defective. Consequently, it was possible to produce a CD with 23 selections: "Gypsy" polka, "White Blouse" waltz, "Virginia's" oberek, "Searching Girl" polka, "Beanie's" Oberek, "Tell Me My Love" polka, "Let's Be Happy" oberek, "I Love You Dearly" waltz, "Play Musicians" polka, "Boy Talk" oberek, "What Would You Do" polka, "C-Notes" polkas, "When I Leave" polka, "Joe & Jean's" oberek, "Good-Bye" waltz, "Polka Music" polka, "My Heart Tells Me" waltz, "Thank You" polka, "In the Tavern" polka, "For My Lover" polka, "Harvest Time" waltz, "Ladies' Man" polka and "Be My Wife" polka. Seventeen of the above at Polish vocals, on ie Polish-English, and four are instrumentals.
The Concertina All Stars…proudly announce the release of their debut recording entitled Dancing With The All Stars on Sunshine Records.
This collection of 10 polkas, 2 obereks and a waltz will provide enjoyment for every polka fan. Two of the 13 selections on this CD are originals by this group of veteran musicians that hail from the Buffalo, New York area. Although this is The Concertina All Stars’ first recording, the members of this versatile group all come with a wealth of musical experience from bands like Big Steve & The Bellares, Jerry Darlak & The Touch, The Bedrock Boys and The Knewz.
The Concertina All Stars have taken their unique brand of polka music near and far, even traveling abroad to perform in Europe. Personnel on the recording are: Greg Chwojdak Concertina and Vocals, Bob Zielinski Concertina and Vocals, Joe Ryndak Concertina, Dale Wojdyla Trumpet and Vocals, Ray Barsukiewicz Sax, Clarinet and Vocals, Andy Bojczuk Drums and Vocals, Art Gayler Accordion, Piano and Vocals and Robin Pegg - Bass.
To order a CD, make check or money order for $17 (includes $2 shipping & handling) payable to Joe Ryndak and send to: The Concertina All Stars, c/o Joe Ryndak, 6219 Townline Road, Lockport, NY 14094. For bookings or more information about The Concertina All Stars, contact Greg Chwojdak at (716) 983-4815 or e-mail: polkajock@buffalo.com
The Polkas For Charity website is up and available on the internet at: www.polkasforcharity.com. Samplings of five tracks from the first CD project, "Let’s Get This Party Started" are now linked on the website.
Musicians participating in "Let's Get this Party Started" include: Chris Borkowski, Ted Borzymowski, Wally Dombrowski, Gennarose, Lenny Gomulka, Greg Guzevich, Hank Guzevich, Chris Huntington, Johnny Karas, Frank Liszka, Bob McBride, Ryan Ogrodny, Rick Olaguer and Mark Trzepacz.
Proceeds from this first Polkas for Charity recording will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN.
For more information, samples of songs, photos, biographies of the musicians and more, visit the the website, www.polkasforcharity.com or email ted@polkasforcharity.com. The CD, which will be available by mid-June, may be ordered by sending $17.00 (includes $2.00 shipping and handling) to: Polkas For Charity - P.O. Box 835 - Fallston, MD 21047- 0835.
Whether your polka memories go back a few year or a few decades, they live in your heart and your head. It may be that special festival, or the time you heard "your" band for the first time, or that one time you almost don't remember.
Don't you wish someone would create a website featuring polka photos and other memories from those days? Wouldn't it be great to relive days of The New Brass, Marion Lush, The Versatones, or festivals like Polkbration, Erie Days, Polka Holiday?
Through the efforts of Jimmy Krzeszewski of jimmyKpolkas.com and Steve Litwin, Polka Editor of the Polish American Journal, the polka world now has polkamemories.com, a site that is your place to relive the best polka memories of your life. Polkamemories.com offers photos contributed by many throughout the polka world. You can become part of this website by submitting your scanned photos for this website. Visit polkamemories.com today and bring enjoy the memories of your polka past.
CHICAGO -Bel-Aire Enterprises has launched a new website and store, Belairerecords.com. Offering a complete catalog of polka recordings and other musical items, Belairerecords.com will also be providing reviews and writeups on recordings, photos and band history. Be sure to visit the site and look around. Check back often for monthly specials and featured Items. Belairerecords.com
There are two universal truths about accordions. The first is that the accordion is almost always associated with polka music. The second: a concertina is the same thing.
To what do we owe the association of the accordion with Polish dance music? The accordion is not exclusive to the polka. Its sweet, reedy sound has been the musical backdrop for scenarios of lonely cowboys in the Texas Panhandle, romantic interludes under the Eiffel Tower, and Cajun house parties deep in Louisiana’s swamps. Surely accordions are not played just by Polish Americans.
There is a mystique about the accordion, albeit often a negative one. When Madison Avenue wants to demonstrate “cool” versus “uncool,” it sometimes calls upon the accordion to demonstrate the latter. But the accordion was a respectable instrument until the advent of rock ‘n’ roll. Songs of love and devotion were then sung over the electrified strains of guitars, and teen idols, who played the six-stringed talisman of rebellion, created a charisma for themselves equal to that of guys who drove fast cars.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, accordions regained some lost ground. Credit is due a counterculture movement in the rock ‘n’ roll industry. Seeking an alternative to the guitar, bands incorporated the accordion into some of their music. Among the bands and musicians not afraid to let the instrument demonstrate its versatility were the Talking Heads, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, David Lindley, Los Lobos, even the Grateful Dead.
And it is the Irish who can lay claim to the first recordings of accordion and concertina. Traditional Irish dance music played on fiddle, uilleann pipes, concertina, accordion, flute, tin whistle, tenor banjo, pianos, and combinations thereof was captured on cylinder recordings before the portable piano was heard playing polkas on record.
Still, if only by association, the accordion belongs to the polka.
The accordion is, for all practical purposes, a portable piano, powered by air driven over tuned reeds. And hence its popularity: it is easier to carry an accordion than a piano down to a church basement wedding reception.
The accordion’s popularity among polka bands can be attributed to that fact. Although most polka bands are dedicated to their art form, they must play a variety of music for bread-and-butter receptions, dances, and parties. It was not until the late 1970s, when synthesized keyboards replaced the accordion as the portable keyboard, that gig-playing polka bands could make use of both instruments. Most such bands today have both an accordion and a synthesized keyboard.
The concertina lacks the accordion’s keyboard. It is usually small and hexagonal, with buttons to be played by both hands as they push and pull to work the bellows.
The early polka bands in the United States made little use of the accordion—or none at all. They played what has become known as “village” music on violins, bass violins, a clarinet, and a bowed cello or bass. One of the early band leaders was Franciszek Dukla of Chicago, who with vocalist Frank Zielinski began a recording career for Victor Records on December 7, 1926, with the song “Na Okolo Ciemny Las.” (“Around the Dark Forest”) as it’s known in English, is part of the standard literature for today’s polka bands.
How the music of Franciszek Dukli Wiejska Banda (Frank Dukla’s Village Band) evolved into today’s polkas has become a debate among academics. It is believed that Polish musicians adopted and adapted the accordion and concertina to fit popular music styles within their communities. To trace the use of these instruments in today’s polka bands, we must look to early recordings by Polish artists.
The earliest American Polish-language recordings were made by the Berliner Company in 1897, featuring a tenor with piano accompaniment. It wasn’t until the next decade, when recording techniques had improved, that full instrumentation could be added.
The first recording of either the concertina or the accordion by a Polish artist is hard to trace. Columbia did not begin a separate numbering system for ethnic recording series until 1908; Victor’s began in 1912. Apparently the first known Polish artist to record the accordion was Jan Wanat, on the Victor label in 1917. Wanat’s discs of traditional Polish dances, played in a conventional, formal style, were hot sellers. His accordion solos were played on a custom instrument that brought out the bass.
Early Polish recordings can be classified as folksong, light and grand opera, patriotic and traditional song and dance, popular music played and sung by Poles, and dialogue—mainly comedy skits. At the time many of these recordings were made, the polka was very popular, especially outside Polish communities. A majority of Polish folksongs (particularly songs of war, such as parade music and marches) were already in cut time, the 2/4 polka tempo. Other Polish folk and dance songs—the mazurka, krakowiak, polonaise, and kujawiak—were easily adapted as polkas, obereks, and waltzes, which are the dances still popular today among Polish Americans.
The recording companies sought Polish artists whose music would appeal to newcomers who yearned for music of the homeland, but the record executives were at a loss as to what music that was. According to Alvin Sajewski, son of Wladyslaw Sajewski, founder of the W.H. Sajewski Music Company in Chicago, the record executives knew there was a huge ethnic market but did not know how to tap it:
The records were by people from the city who liked the classical singers, the high-pitched sopranos. People wanted simple pretty melodies, but they would buy these records because there was at least something Polish on them. The people wanted folksongs (Spottswood 1982).
In 1923 Columbia recorded a “duma,” a waltz by Henry Lewandowski. This old-time fiddler led the way for newer bands that were beginning to play polkas and other Polish dances in a livelier and less formal fashion.
One of Columbia’s hottest artists was the Ukrainian fiddler Pawlo Humeniuk. The company “polonized” Humeniuk by changing his name to Pawel Humeniak, and with Polish vocalists, his records sold well in Chicago. The January 1927 recording of “Zareczyny, Czesc 1” (“The Engagement, Part 1”), with singer Ewgen Zukowsky was the genesis of the Polish American polka. The playing technique of the anonymous accordionist is almost identical to that used today.
Columbia and its competitors—Victor, Okeh, Odeon, Brunswick, and Vocalion realized more than modest profits from the hybrid Polish American polka. During the 1930s the Polish recording business exploded. In 1931 Victor alone released 176 recordings in its Polish series, including 38 by village orchestras (playing what is known variously as Górale, Mountain, Highland, or Old Country music) and 12 by what Richard J. Spottswood has called “new-wave polka bands"—the forerunners of today’s bands. These new-wave recordings, made primarily by Ignacy Podgorski from Philadelphia, and by Edward Królikowski of Bridgeport, Connecticut, blended brass, accordion, and violin and combined “the energy of the village orchestras with a smoother, more emphatic melody line” (Spottswood 1982).
Podgorski, whose popularity extended into the 1940s, also sold sheet music of his material, much of which was based on the music of the village bands.
One early artist who greatly influenced the hybrid Polish American polka was a concertina player and singer from Chicago, Bruno Rudzinski. His work, like Lewandowski’s and Humeniuk’s, was less formal—a mix of traditional Polish folk melodies influenced by American jazz. Rudzinski’s recordings made him the Polish Spike Jones of his day, as he would often repeat or forget lines and start the vocals over again.
His first recording, “Przyszedl Chlop do Karczmy” (“A Man Came to the Saloon”), was on the Victor label and released in 1928.
It wasn’t until the late 1940s, however, that the concertina made its way into mainstream polka music. The instrument was promoted by bandleader Eddie Zima, probably the most famous of all polka concertina players. He was born in Chicago in 1923 and began playing the concertina by ear when he was six. His record of “Circus” polka, which became a hit in the nation’s Polish communities, introduced hundreds of thousands to both Zima and the concertina. He recorded for the Capitol, RCA, Dana, Chicago, and Jay Jay labels, and his orchestra later formed the nucleus of the still-popular Ampol-Aires. He is considered the godfather of Chicago-style polkas, which are slower and bouncier than the traditional “Eastern” style, named after the big bands from the East Coast that played these zesty polkas from the 1940s until the late 1960s.
Zima influenced a multitude of musicians who found the concertina a natural for the polka. Among those he inspired was Li’l Wally Jagiello, the son of Polish immigrants, who often sang with Zima’s band at picnics in Chicago. Although Jagiello’s early recordings made use of the accordion, he is most famous for his work on the concertina, and for promoting Chicago-style polka to national prominence. His recording of “Zosia” (“Sophie”) so startled some disc jockeys that they thought it defective, but the song’s slow, heartfelt tempo won it nationwide popularity. Today, Chicago-style polkas dominate the polka recording industry.
Jagiello in turn has inspired many of today’s virtuoso concertina players, including Wally Maduzia, Lenny Maynard, Rich Benkowski, Al Piatkowski, Richie Kurdziel, Scrubby Seweryniak, Bill Czerniak Sr. and Jr., Ronny Marcusiuk, Tom Kula, and Teddy Kiewicz.
References
Breathnach, B. 1971. Folk Music and Dances of Ireland. Dublin: Talbot Press.
Camp, T. 1992. Weird Al finds a vein of fun in rock parodies. Milwaukee Journal, July 7.
Ethnic Recordings in America. 1982. Washington, D.C.: American Folklife Center, library of Congress.
Spottswood, R. 1982. “The Sajewski Story” in Ethnic Recordings in America: A Neglected Heritage. Washington, D.C.: American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
Treasured Polish Folk Songs with Translation. 1953. Minneapolis: Polanie Publishing Co.
Mark Kohan is editor-in-chief of the national monthly newspaper Polish American Journal and was leader of the Steel City Brass for 28 years; he plays both accordion and concertina. With the permission of the publisher, the article was adapted from “Squeezebox Jam,” a publication of the Polish American Festival held in August 1992 in Cheektowaga, New York. The annual event is sponsored by the Town of Cheektowaga (a suburb of Buffalo), and made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.
Copyright 2007 Polish American Journal
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