Re: [Harp-L] re;harp/accordian songs

[Grant Walters <grant@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great comment here by David...Flaco ...the man...Keyboard style accordion...Texas Tornado's...tip of the iceberg on this idea..(they were great).  Fabulous history lesson to be learned here...true too.
Of course..some types of accordions are set up for diatonic scale..(button style)..I can't remember the thread as to what kind of accordion was being played.
But we are not talking diatonic here are we?
(See Irish music link)

I enjoy playing with a keyboard style player and let him lay down the chords...
On a harp you can adjust your melodic line easier than many other instruments(using the ear).
Yes, often the old accordion (passed down for generations) is a bit out of tune...so what.
I would not suggest playing the same melodic line with the accordion.
Any redundancy can really sound off.

Our late and great accordion player, john Havard, did not play much.
He simply filled in with big drawn out chords and and sparsely placed fills (not at the same time as the harp)  Letting the song breathe. 
I tended to do more like short horn lines in the back ground unless it was my solo, being careful not to duplicate lines.

Favorite duo for harp and accordion...that we did in this kind of relationship...for popular music.  (no harp on the recordings listed):

Knocking on Heaven's Door  by  Beau Jocque and the Zydeco High rollers
Coast of Malibar...Ry Cooder with Chieftans
Beast of Burden  by Buckwheat Zydeco

I seem to remember Zachary Richard swapping between the two instruments...am I right?
Of course, I'm trying to learn to- do both at the same time...(play chords with left hand)...with limited success.

I'll let you know how it goes unless I injure myself.

Grant Walters



On Jul 9, 2010, at 9:03 AM, David M.Terry wrote:

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> I have played in a batch of "Texas" bands and find anything from the Texas Tornado's works well with harp and accordian(Guacamole/Hey baby Que Paso etc) Flaco Jimenez Jr. shaved his reeds to customize them to produce bends that work almost like that of a diatonic harp.(historical side note) in the mid 1800's thousands of Germans, Lithuanians and "Bohemians" emigrated to Texas and the locals of Mexican decent went nuts over the accordian thence the oompha influence in the music today. Ambrose Beirce in "The Devils Dictionary" 1904 defines the accordian as "An instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin". Sometime I feel the harmonica falls under that general umbrella. Just my dos y media centavos worth!      
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