Pre-Owned Legends of the Accordion (CD 0081227184728) by Various Artists

0081227184728. Pre-Owned: Good condition. CD. The straightforwardly-named Legends of the Accordion delivers just what its title suggests: a collection of performances from some of the best players of this underappreciated instrument. The album spans the accordion's surprisingly varied sounds and moods in songs that range from the expected (Dick Contino's "Lady of Spain") to the unusual (Those Darn Accordians' "Perry Mason Theme"). Naturally, polka plays a prominent role in the collection, and Lawrence Welk & His Orchestra's "Dakota Polka" and Myron Floren's "Laughing Polka" are among the best included here. However, the accordion's role in Cajun, zydeco, Tex-Mex, and other more exotic genres are also explored; Clifton Chenier's "Squeeze Box Boogie," Andrew Cormier & the Smiling Cajuns' "Creole Stomp," Flaco Jimenez' "Una Tarde en el Alamo," and Anthony Galla-Rini's "Liebesfreud" prove that in the right hands, the accordion sounds right in many different settings and styles. The father-and-son team of Frank and "Weird" Al Yankovic provide two more of the album's highlights with "Trollie's Polka" and "Lasagna," Al's Tex-Mex-flavored parody of "La Bamba." Though the accordion will probably never escape its image as a wacky instrument -- songs like Joey Miskulin's "The Crazy Accordion" and Jo Ann Castle's "Bumble Boogie" make that almost impossible -- Legends of the Accordion embraces that part of the accordion's heritage but also paints a more well-rounded portrait of the instrument. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

Pre-Owned Legends of the Accordion (CD 0081227184728) by Various Artists