The Accordion Club of San Diego Harold Estok, Founder ALSI and The Reed Block THE REED BLOCK c/o Lois Lahoud 6225 Snowbond St. San Diego, CA. 92120 March 2019 Newsletter 1 Volume 26 issue 3 ALSI MEMBERSHIP AND GENERAL INFORMATION MEMBERSHIPS: ALSI memberships run from January through December. This is the time to renew or start a new membership. Please contact Lois Lahoud. The REED BLOCK is published once each month. DISCLAIMER: Unless otherwise indicated, all articles were written by the Editor. Unless so stated, no article is to be construed as an endorsement and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or ALSI. Submissions for the Reed Block: Your input to the REED BLOCK is invited and should be sent to Lois Lahoud. Harold & Helen Estok AlSI Founders of A.L.S.I. Accordion Lovers Society International President: Gordon Kohl 619 395-0454 Helen Estok Presidents Emeriti: Harold Estok, Bill Barr Ron Griffin, Kjell Holmes, Gloria Ensign Ron Griffin Meeting Coordinator: Bob Warner Treasurer & Band Miriana and Fred Director: Vicki Eriqat Ferino Recording Secretary: Sharon Marotte Kjell Holmes Correspondence Secretary: Lois Lahoud 619 582-1427 ReedBlock Bob Page Newsletter/ Webmaster: Bob Page, Lois Lahoud, Al Piselli, Ted Hill Gloria Ensign Bob Warner STEERING COMMITTEE, Next meeting will be on Wednesday, March 14th. We meet at Marie Callen- der’s 6950 Alvarado Rd. (Hwy 8 and 70th. next to Dennys) at 10:30 AM for breakfast to discuss upcoming events for ALSI. This meeting is open to any- one interested, so please join us. We drink a lot of coffee. 2 Vicki Eriqat Sharon Marotte Lois Lahoud Al Piselli Ted Hill March Birthdays Nancy Dyer (Money) 3-4 Marilyn Harkins 3-13 Diane Polinski 3-5 Steve Halpern 3-14 Chuck Fabatz 3-9 Frank Erwin 3-29 Bill Barr 3-10 Howard Kantorowski 3-11 March Anniversaries Frank and Mary Lou Erwin 3-4 Jerry and Barbara Odling 3-30 WWW.TomEskolaMusic.com Gordon Kohl Plays Casuals, Wedding Dances and Special Events. Gordon’s Combo is noted for their repertoire of ethnic music such as Italian, French, German and Latin. Their specialty is Private Parties & Dancing Music. For more information and availability, please call Gordon at: (619) 395-0454. 3 Thank you all for continuing to support accordion music and artists in performances at ALSI. ALSI has been for 35+ years been San Diego’s spot to play accordion and enjoy friendship in music. We Hello Everyone, are fortunate to be able to inter- act with such a variety of people I hope you all had a great with varied musical backgrounds. start to our new year. ALSI mem- The arts are a special part of San bers enjoyed a meal and a fantas- Diego tic music performance by Gail Tell friends about ALSI and it’s Campanella at our last meeting. activities including the June picnic Her music selections were at Lindo Lake Park in Lakeside in electrifying and very expressive. June. This music style and interpreta- tion is a thrill to watch and listen Gordon by accordionists. When she played Snow Train Shuffle and Ti- co Tico the audience was amazed and ready to jump up and dance. She is a superb accordion artist. ALSI STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: We look forward to hearing her ALSI is San Diego’s forum for appreciating again sometime next year in 2020. and performing accordion music, Accordionists are being con- including the MIDI electronic accordion tracted to feature their particular —- style in music for ALSI for the We welcome members who enjoy listening coming months. Our next show- to or playing accordion music. —- case is our next meeting this We have an accordion ensemble group, March. The accordionist Gene monthly meetings, local concerts featuring Kolosney is a very fluid and enter- local and internationally famous performers, taining musician. Please bring an annual picnic and a monthly newsletter. some friends to this occasion. 4 March 10th. Guest artist Gene Kolosney from the Chicago Accordion Club will present a showcase, Irish day - wear green March 23rd. ALSI presents Creosote at Arely’s French Bakery 5 PM April 13th. ALSI meeting May 5th. ALSI meeting, Gordon Kohl and Tom Eskola will be featured June 9th. ALSI picnic at Lindo Lake Park in Lakeside March 7th-9th NAA Accordion Convention, Richardson (Dallas), Texas March 22nd NAMM Museum of Music will be featuring Frank Petrilli April 4th-6th San Diego Accordion Camp with Gordon Kohl May 14th-16th Camp Concerto with Paul Pasqualli, Salt Lake City, Utah Happiness at ALSI by Sharon Marotte (March 22nd—Museum of Music) Cre- (Sharon has been writing the happiness osote is the accordion duo of Jamie article for us as far back as 2007 or Maschler and Gabriel Rodrigues. To- earlier?) gether they play a dynamic array of Boy oh Boy!!! If you were not at the ALSI gath- original and world music. Expect to ering February 10, 2019, you really missed an ex- cellent concert by Gail Campanella from Santa hear clever yet elegant versions of new and old Brazilian and Barbara, CA. world music tunes. The instrumental duo recently released their The Mangia Italiano restaurant in Chula Vista was the spot for 40 of us accordion lovers. first self-titled album. The evening will also feature a perfor- Beatrice Kohl helped sign in the guests. The mance by jazz accordionist Frank Petrilli. Frank Petrilli has per- menu was salad, Spaghetti or Fettuccine Alfredo with a light dessert. formed with renowned artists like guitarist John Chiodini, at top Several folks entertained us during the venues such as Herb Albert’s Vibrato Grill, and at many of the lunch time: Tom Eskola, Bob Page, Ron Grif- fin, Sharon Marotte, Margarita Romero and major accordion festivals and clubs in the US. Gordon Kohl. It was a wonderful day with excellent accordion music – it was so nice to see friends This event is presented in conjunction with the Accordions: Ex- that we haven’t seen for awhile. Please come panding Voices in the USA special exhibition. again!!! 5 2nd Annual San Diego Gordon continues to play solo and group engagements for conventions, clubs, dances, and special events. He has Accordion Camp combined the use of a reed accordion style with the elec- tronic and digital world new age accordion technology. April 4-6, 2019 He uses skills from piano, keyboard, and accordion in his continually evolving professional style design. He always wants to mix the voicings of the reed instrument with the The 2nd annual San Diego Accordion Camp (SDAC), un- modern pop and orchestral sides of digital instrument ca- der the musical direction of Gordon Kohl, will be held pability in his music arrangements. This conceptual idea April 4-6, 2019 from 9 AM to 4:30 PM at the Mangia Ital- has helped him and his combo remain popular today. iano Restaurant, 248 Third Ave., Chula Vista, CA. For an enrollment form go to: The SDAC emphasizes building accordion musicianship http://www.gordonkohlaccordions.com/ skills, enjoyment and self confidence in playing an accor- or contact Gordon Kohl. His mobile phone is (619) 395- dion solo. A goal of this camp is to enhance the music 0454 and his email address is arrangements we learn and to make them enjoyable to [email protected] . play. This year’s camp will use “First 50 Songs You Should Play on the Accordion” arranged by Gary Meisner as the text- book. We will review and play several popular tunes in- cluding “Libertango,” “Cherokee (Indian Love Song),” “The Phoenix Love Theme (Senza Fine)”. Gordon will explain the application of chord cadences and progression, building introductions, harmony, rhythm, bellow technique, expression and theory. Each song has select measures where improvisation will be incorporated. The use of harmonic tones and design of short introductions and endings will be studied and played by participants. Both acoustic and digital accordionists are welcome to attend the -3 day camp. Suggestions for possible acoustic reed switch settings and digital voice choices will be giv- en. The enrollment fee is $189/person which covers: textbook (“First 50 Songs” arranged by Gary Meisner), parking, course materials, notebook and lunch. Sign-up by March 15, 2019. The textbook will be mailed in advance so that you can practice the selected tunes ahead of camp. Gordon will distribute extra class notes and exercises at camp in your notebook. Gordon Kohl is a professional accordionist and teacher. He has performed and presented workshops at numer- ous accordion conventions and camps across the U.S. He is on the Board of Directors of the Accordionists & Teachers Guild International. 6 Welk's music was known as champagne mu- From: Allan Schwartz sic. His television show started with animated cham- keyboard accordion player, residing in pagne bubbles appearing on the screen. “Bubbles in the Wine” was his theme song. Welk eschewed the San Francisco rock and roll acts, such as Elvis Presley and the Beatles that became regular with such competitors as A LOOK BACK AT LAWRENCE WELK “The Ed Sullivan Show”. He insisted not only on wholesome presentations but that the members of If you want to see small town America, his “musical family” live wholesome lives. North Dakota is not a bad place to start. But Stras- The Lawrence Welk legacy has been lasting. burg, North Dakota, might even be too backwater To this day the Lawrence Welk Champagne Theatre for most North Dakotans. operates in Branson, Missouri, with a 2300 seat ca- This farming “town” has a population under pacity. Lawrence Welk resorts are not only found 400 and less than a square mile of territory.