1. This past Thursday I was a guest performer at the Acme Accordion School’s awards ceremony/performance. I was asked to perform Shades of Velvet, a composition by the accordion composer John Gart.
The piece has its copyright marked 1942, so I believe it was written on or very shortly before that year. It is a lush legato piece. Which to my ear is evocative of a string section cue for the days of radio (minor and major 6 chords). The piece is very interesting. The form is ABA with a coda. Notably there are some very nice places where interesting diminished or minor chords sweep up or fall down chromatically giving either a washy feeling or a feeling of building anxiety.
Anyway, the reason I performed that piece there was because a very fine accordionist named Zevy Zions was the main guest performer and he requested someone perform Shades of Velvet. He had never heard it performed and was curious what it sounded like.
John Gart’s compositions (especially Scherzo and Vivo) are popular accordion concert pieces. Even Galliano covers Scherzo. But Shades of Velvet is a forgotten one. For good reason. Its a ballad really. Not anywhere near as virtuosic as Vivo or Scherzo. But an interesting piece nonetheless.
So I got to hear Zevy perform his set of American Standards for the Accordion. Which was really great. It was the first time I had heard anyone perform Frosini. Zevy has many recordings out. And he is dedicated to the American performance accordion music of the early-mid 20th century (Frosini, Gart et al). He must have a tremendous ear, because he explained that he transcribes many of these notey pieces by ear!
Also, in the liner notes of his discs Zevy has information about each song, which is great because this info is hard to find, especially amongst my generation.
2. La Gaîté from Amsterdam perform today and next week in SF.
(Updated April, 2010)
Originally from California, his formal education includes study of arranging, composition and piano performance at California State University Northridge in Los Angeles as well as accordion at the Acme Accordion School in Westmont, NJ with Stanley Darrow and Joanna Arnold.
Dallas has recently recorded and performed with national guitar flatpicking champion Mark Cosgrove . The new record is to be released later this year (2010).
He has performed with Grammy nominee and Polka accordion icon Alex Meixner.
Dallas has recently recorded on the new record of The Orphan Trains. The new record is to be released later this year (2010).
Dallas wrote and performed original music to the 2009 Philadelphia Fringe Fest show Cirque Ular. As well as the 2008 juggling/drama The Comet Line, which was produced by The Give and Take Jugglers.
Dallas is the musical director for film and television (Airplane, The Love Boat) actress Jill Whelan. Their show Dry Dock was performed at the Zipper Theater, The Daryl Roth Theater, and a three week engagement at the Metropolitan Room in New York City.
His professional experience also includes performances with groups large and small at legendary clubs such as The Jazz Bakery and Catalina's Bar in Los Angeles.
Member of the American Accordionists' Association
