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A Cultural History of the Accordion in America

ISBN-13: 9780252036750
Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
Imprint: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
By Marion Jacobson
Price: AUD $64.99
Stock: 0 in stock
Availability: This book is temporarily out of stock, order will be despatched as soon as fresh stock is received.
Local release date: 15/04/2012
Format: Hardback 292 pages Weight: 0g
Categories: Music [AV]

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Google Preview: No other instrument has witnessed such a dramatic rise to popularity--and precipitous decline--as the accordion. Squeeze This! is the first history of the piano accordion and the first book-length study of the accordion as a uniquely American musical and cultural phenomenon. Ethnomusicologist and accordion enthusiast Marion Jacobson traces the changing idea of the accordion in the United States and its cultural significance over the course of the twentieth century. She focuses on key moments of transition, from the introduction of elaborately decorated European models imported onto the American vaudeville stage and the instrument's celebration by ethnic musical communities and mainstream audiences alike, to its later denigration and novelty performances by the likes of ''Weird Al'' Yankovic as well as a recent revival within contemporary cabaret acts and pop groups such as They Might Be Giants. Loaded with dozens of images of gorgeous instruments and enthusiastic performers and fans, Squeeze This! A Cultural History of the Accordion in America represents the accordion in a wide range of popular and traditional musical styles, revealing the richness and diversity of accordion culture in America.; ''An excellent book about the piano accordion's evolution, a number of major accordionists, and the many musical genres where it has been used, from polka and zydeco to rock 'n' roll and classical music. Fascinating reading not only for accordionists, ethnomusicologists, and folklorists, but especially also general readers interested in ethnic music and cultural history.'' Deborah Anders Silverman, author of Polish-American Folklore ''Marion Jacobson prefaces her delightful book with a quote from the Minneapolis Journal of December 16, 1912: ''A fearful instrument that looks like a cash register, and sounds worse, produces gasps of pleasure at the Orpheum this week. It is called the piano accordion and its behaviour is shameless''... This often-maligned instrument has found a worthy champion in Jacobson. Her likeable, informative and readable book, illustrated with superb colour plates of classic instruments and performers, looks set to remain the definitive work on the subject.'' - Lou Glandfield, Times Literary Supplement, June29th 2012; Google Preview content

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A Cultural History of the Accordion in America