Good old Bal Musette

[Fratelli Crosio 60]

Hi everybody,

I'm glad to inform you that a new CD featuring 30 tracks recorded by accordionists Jo Krasker and Raymond Siozade at the end of the fifties will be issued on June 12 2017 by French label "Marianne Mélodie". The CD, which belongs to the "Archives de l'accordéon" series, will include covers of period hits (Scoubidou, Tais-toi Marseille, Désir, Désir...) as well as accordion classics, such as Paso Dobles like El Gato Montes or España Cani, plus several waltzes (Riva Bella, Valse bretonne, Valse des cheminots...).
More information to come.
Thanks!
Eric

 

[Fratelli Crosio 60]

Hi everybody,

The CD of French 50s accordionists Jo Krasker & Raymond Siozade, released by Marianne Mélodie label, is now on the verge of coming out in France :

http://www.mariannemelodie.fr/fr/cd...ymond-siozade-archives-accordeon/4247342.html#

More information to come soon !

Thank you very much.

All the best !

Eric

 

[Fratelli Crosio 60]

Hi true accordion lovers,

The brand new CD of French 50s accordionists Jo Krasker & Raymond Siozade, released by Marianne Mélodie label, is now available, and the track-list is on the attached image (back cover of the CD which comes with an 8-page booklet featuring rare photographs).

However, it should be pointed out that, in the meantime, one track by Raymond Siozade was replaced by another one. So, track #28 (Manille Mambo) was withdrawn and replaced by hit waltz Comet Valse. The rest of the numbers are the same.

http://www.mariannemelodie.fr/fr/cd...ymond-siozade-archives-accordeon/4247342.html

Thanks !

 

[Glenn]

Comet Valse is one of my favourites.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Fratelli Crosio 60]

Yes Glenn, Comet Valse is a fine track and probably one of Raymond Siozade's best hits !

This is the reason why we decided to include it in the new compilation of Marianne Mélodie.

By the way, it should be pointed out that tracks 1 to 6 (originally coming from Plastisonor label) feature a line-up of session musicians including a lead guitarist and a saxophone player (the drummer is Jacques Sari who was playing with famous accordionist Aimable). As a result, the music is updated and sounds very modern and punchy. For instance, traditional spanish classics such as El Gato Montes and España Cani sound suddenly both jazzy and bluesy, something which was quite new at the time.

 

[Fratelli Crosio 60]

Flashback to the days when the accordion was King of the dance halls.The accordionist, Jo Krasker, is partially obscured by the elderly gent practising his bellows shake on the derriere of the attractive girl in the foreground. She was probably a hostess employed by the bal, who received payment for allowing would be accordionists to practice their squeeze technique.
With regard to the onlooking rather bemused bespectacled lady, Dont fancy yours much, as they say!

13165846_1103837456341631_3869380763906899412_n.jpg

By the way, maugein96, how did you know the accordionist on the photo was Jo Krasker ? (Of course, if you have exceptionally excellent eyes, you will probably notice that his name is vertically written on his Martin Cayla accordion, but it is spelled Geo Krasker (his early stage name), not yet Jo. And except for that hardly visible detail, nothing clearly indicates who is that musician who is, as you rightly pointed out, partially obscured by the elderly gent...).
This intrigues me since the beginning of that topic !

Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

Eric

 

[maugein96]

Hi Eric,

Just back from holiday where the internet signal was pretty much non-existent.

Truth was I had actually never heard of your father before I discovered the photo which prompted me to make the original post. I therefore had to try and make out his name from the writing on the front of his accordion.

However I did know that "Geo" is often changed to "Jo" in France.

Although I have been listening to (and trying to play) French musette for many years, your father's name had totally escaped me. I had heard of Raymond Siozade, largely because of his unorthodox style, and the fact that he was sometimes known as the "Yul Brynner" of the accordion.

The surname Krasker is fairly uncommon, although I believe it originates from the Bayonne area?

I rarely buy much on CD these days, but I'll be sure to place an order from Marianne Melodie, as I would be very keen to hear your father playing. I like the styles of accordion music from the days when your father played, and I still don't know how I'd never heard of him before.

I wasn't on the forum much recently when some of the posts on this thread were made, and it's great that there is a member with some real knowledge of French musette. The rest of us often have to guess a lot of what went on during the good old days. I can only understand very basic French, and that has stopped me finding out a whole lot more.

Cheers,

John Walker (maugein96)

 

[Fratelli Crosio 60]

Hi Eric,

Just back from holiday where the internet signal was pretty much non-existent.

Truth was I had actually never heard of your father before I discovered the photo which prompted me to make the original post. I therefore had to try and make out his name from the writing on the front of his accordion.

However I did know that Geo is often changed to Jo in France.

Hi John,

Many thanks for your reply! So your very good eyes allowed you to make out my fathers name on the front of his accordion. OK, now this (tiny) mystery is solved in full as far as Im concerned. Thanks !
Yes, Geo is quite uncommon in France, and normally we always change it to Jo. Within the family he would even be currently called Jojo.

Although I have been listening to (and trying to play) French musette for many years, your fathers name had totally escaped me. I had heard of Raymond Siozade, largely because of his unorthodox style, and the fact that he was sometimes known as the Yul Brynner of the accordion.

Well, around the end of the fifties/beginning of the sixties, my father was regarded by the professionals as one of the best accordionists of the parisian scene (he would regularly sit in for Jo Privat at the famous Balajo dancing and he was the headline act at the Croix de Malte in Paris -- THE French accordion temple -- between July and September 1960). He and Raymond Siozade used to play together for many times, and they recorded separately several tracks for the same labels, such as Kraftone (Belgium) and Plastisonor (France). They even recorded together one track, Beethovens Für Elise (Kraftone K62) which is on the new CD. Moreover, Raymond Siozade, who invented later the orgadeon (first electronic accordion which looked like a small organ) died prematurely at 56 in 1986.

The surname Krasker is fairly uncommon, although I believe it originates from the Bayonne area?

Not really. In fact the surname Krasker is coming from Eastern Europe. One of our famous relatives is Robert Krasker who got an Oscar in 1950 for the B&W photography of the well known Carol Reeds film, The Third Man, which came out in 1949 (featuring Orson Welles). Then many other films were to come, such as The Fall of the Roman Empire , The Cid or The Heroes of Telemark, to quote only the best known examples...

I rarely buy much on CD these days, but Ill be sure to place an order from Marianne Melodie, as I would be very keen to hear your father playing. I like the styles of accordion music from the days when your father played, and I still dont know how Id never heard of him before.

Well John, its nice from you and I appreciate you want to hear it. But it can be done otherwise, too. I mean, If you agree, I can send you a free copy and maybe you could make a (small) review of the CD here, so that all the accordionists forum readers could have an unbiased point of view of the music ?.... If you think its a good idea, please just send me a PM with your address and I would send you one copy of the CD as soon as possible. Anyway, just tell me what you think, Im open to any suggestions !

I wasnt on the forum much recently when some of the posts on this thread were made, and its great that there is a member with some real knowledge of French musette. The rest of us often have to guess a lot of what went on during the good old days. I can only understand very basic French, and that has stopped me finding out a whole lot more.

Yes, French musette is quite fascinating, and much more varied than currently believed. During the good old days Jo Krasker would play with most of the biggest names of accordion in Paris, such as Gus Viseur, André Astier, Marcel Azzola, Joss Baselli, Maurice Larcange, Jo Privat, Bruno Lorenzoni, Yvette Horner, Raymond Siozade, Aimable, etc., and I was lucky enough to grow up among this fantastic musical atmosphere. Unforgettable memories! If you have any questions concerning that subject, I would be too pleased to help you (within the limits of my own knowledge, of course!).

Thank you very much.

Warmest Regards,

Eric

 

[maugein96]

Eric,

All of the above players' names are very familiar to me, along with many other lesser known artistes.

Most people with a casual interest in French musette will look no further than the old chansons being played on "musette pur" accordions, without realising that the genre comprises a whole lot more than that.

I was originally a fan of "musette pur", but later discovered the players who preferred "americain" and other tunings.

I am aware of the time when various bals in Paris held competitions between the musette and swing type bands, to see what their audiences preferred. Those must have been interesting times. In my experience of listening I would say that most players from the late 50s onward tended not to play "musette pur", except in the far north of France where that style is probably still the most popular today? There are certainly quite a few young players now playing three voice musette, compared with the older days.

I sort of lost interest when the "modern" players like Richard Galliano and Ludovic Beier took centre stage. They are fantastic players, but have changed the musette style to something which is quite far removed from the time when your father played.

I suppose we should be glad that they are keeping the accordion alive at a time when its popularity appears to be in decline, even in France!?

I've sent you a PM with regard to the CD.

 

[maugein96]

Review of CD Jo Krasker and Raymond Siozade:-

Kindly received a copy of this CD recently from Eric Krasker, the son of Jo Krasker, and forum member Fratelli Crosio 60.

The music on the CD is from the great days of the 50s and 60s, when the accordion was in its heyday, and I appreciate some members will not be old enough to remember those great times. The tracks are all "lifted" from old vinyl records, and the producers have done a great job of remastering the tracks, which still evoke the atmosphere of the 50s and 60s.

It should perhaps be highlighted that the French musette repertoire of the time still paid lip service to the various dance styles that were popular in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, and the typical "valse musette" was only part of a much bigger repertoire, featuring such dance styles as the cha-cha, charleston, foxtrot, bolero, paso etc. The polka, although prominent in the general French musette style, had already fallen out of favour by the 50s, although it retained a degree of popularity in the accordion clubs, rather than the dance halls. What we have here is essentially "easy listening" type dance music, although it might take a bit of imagination to dance to some of Raymond Siozade's more adventurous renditions, which I'll speak about later.

If we start off with Jo Krasker, who plays on tracks 1 - 11 on the CD. Straight away we're taken to Spain with two paso-dobles, and although many of us would perhaps rather have heard a typical French valse for the opening track, the excellent tone of his instrument is a brilliant example of the unmistakable three voice French musette of the time. Eric tells me his father variously played on Martin Cayla and Fratelli Crosio instruments. Martin Cayla was a cabrette player from the Auvergne, who had a music business in Paris and had accordions made for him in his own brand name, probably by Maugein Freres. However, I would guess that the accordion used in all these recordings was probably a Fratelli Crosio. The three voice musette is particularly "smooth", with no trace of the harshness often heard on the instruments of other recording artistes of the time. This makes for a particularly pleasant listening experience, and as the tracks progress we also hear some numbers played on other beautiful sounding registers. My favourite track of Jo Krasker's is undoubtedly "Rivabella", an "Italian" style composition by Joseph Colombo and Camille Di Duca. In this track there is an uncanny resemblance to the earlier style played by Jo Privat, before he switched from "musette pur" to "moderne" tuning. Given the fact that Jo Krasker often stood in for Jo Privat at the "Balajo" dance hall in Paris then that would be understandable. He spent a lot of time playing at live gigs or "galas", and played accompaniment to such artistes as Josephine Baker, Georgette Plana, and others. He was also a proficient player of the bandoneon, but unfortunately never made very many recordings. That was a pity, as this CD proves that he was a great accordionist in his own right.

Raymond Siozade was a very individual type of musician. At a time when most performing artistes who were prone to baldness wore toupees, Mr Siozade eventually decided to shave off his ever receding locks and became known as the "Yul Brynner of the accordion" in France. He plays the remainder of the tracks on the CD, and it is difficult to give a definitive description of his style. Suffice to say that it can be an acquired taste, although if you take the trouble to listen intently to what he is doing, you'll realise that he was years ahead of his time when it came to getting different sounds out of an accordion. He was an early user of amplification and other electronic effects, and was regarded as a bit off the wall by some. However, he was nevertheless possessed of considerable accordion technique, and I would urge anybody to actually listen to what he is playing rather than the sounds coming out of the speakers. Even in the days when I thought I could handle just about anything accordion wise, when I first heard the two tracks, "Comet valse" and "Valse des cheminots" years ago, I decided these would be best left to the man himself, as nobody else could even get near to the sounds he produced on the recordings. The other thing about Raymond Siozade is you simply never know what he is going to do next. He puts his own variations into even the most standard of tunes where mere mortals would not even think about it (never heard Hava Naguila played like the track on here). For that reason, if no other, then it is worth listening to him whenever you get the chance.

This CD represents the typical music played at a time when accordionists were keen to incorporate some new ideas into the musette genre. The backing instrumentalists add their own feel to the music, and allow the listener to enjoy the accordion "breaks" in the tracks where they occur.

Raymond Siozade died in 1986 at the relatively young age of 56, and Jo (Georges) Krasker sadly passed away last year, at the age of 89. Although they were both well respected professional players in their day, you won't find many of their recordings on other media, and I would thoroughly recommend this CD to anybody with even a passing interest in French accordion. The album is a great tribute to two of the "real" French musette players, the like of which we'll never see or hear again.

The contact address for the publisher in France is available earlier in the thread, and I have no commercial interest in the company concerned.

Thanks Eric, for giving us the opportunity to hear music, which in my opinion was at its best at the time the tracks on the CD were made.

 

[Howie]

Thank you John, for a well written and thoughtful review.

 

[Fratelli Crosio 60]

Hi everybody,
Happy June ! Im pleased to inform you that the CD by accordionists Jo Krasker and Raymond Siozade released last year in Les archives de laccordéon series by french label Marianne Mélodie has just been reviewed in the May 2018 Deluxe edition of the international publication Stars Illustrated Magazine by Monsieur Maximillien de Lafayette.

https://books.google.fr/books?id=Ou...nk4ChDoAQg_MAQ#v=onepage&q=jo krasker&f=false

The CD is now regularly played by the DJ at the mythical Balajo (rue de Lappe in Paris, near place de la Bastille) where Jo Krasker used to sit in for his friend Jo Privat during the 50s and the 60s.

I wish you a pleasant read.
Thank you very much.
Warmest Regards,
Eric

 

[maugein96]

Hi Eric,

Got your name in lights at last! The link only shows a photo of the CD with a few short captions and I couldn't find any review as such, but I'm glad the CD has received some media attention.

Never knew Balajo was still going, although I believe it is now a night club rather than a Bal Musette.

The musette style your father played has changed out of all recognition these days, and it seems a shame that the folk styles of Bretagne and The Auvergne still have a certain amount of popularity, whereas the musette is but a shadow of what it was.

Maybe if they reinvented it as a "Paris Folk" style more of the young kids would take an interest in it again, but most of them seem keen to give musette a wide berth these days, the same as they do with other accordion music worldwide.

Your father played in a similar style to Jo Privat and it is very appropriate that his music should be played at the Balajo, regardless of what type of club it now is.

Thanks for the update Eric, and hopefully the review will boost the sales of the CD.

Kind regards,

John Walker

 

[Fratelli Crosio 60]

Hi John,

Nice to hear from you again ! Yes indeed, the Balajo is still going on and, among the places of interest, is now regarded as one of the highlights of Paris. It is still a Bal Musette on Monday afternoons only (‘thé dansant’), and the rest of the week it works as a classical night club, dedicated to all kinds of music, such as Salsa, Rock, Disco, etc. As the Balajo is an historical place as far as music is concerned, many tourists enjoy now visiting it and have a drink there. Actually, it should be pointed out that more than 95% of the original decoration of 1936 is still beautifully preserved in excellent condition (even the red seats are original!), so that the visitor is immediately immersed in the good old days when accordion was the King of the dance halls is Paris.

Yes, it’s true that styles of Bretagne and Auvergne still have a certain amount of popularity (especially with diatonic accordion), but thanks to people like Richard Galliano, the musette and jazz styles are coming back slowly but surely in France, and one must not forget that such place like Paris will always be indivisible with accordion in the collective imagination. This is the reason why there is always the « accordion time » at every 14th of July (our national celebration) dance in France. Moreover, I was amazed and delighted to see that nowadays, some young kids also seem to be interested in accordion again (an instrument which used to be out of favour with teenagers of my generation in the 70’s), thanks to the famous film Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, featuring this unforgettable beautiful waltz La valse d’Amélie Poulain, composed by talented French musician Yann Tiersen. This track is very, very popular in France (and everywhere else it seems…).

When I met the current owners of the Balajo three weeks ago and explained them that Jo Krasker used to sit in many times for Jo Privat, not only they decided to play regularly his record on Sunday afternoons « thés dansants », but they told me they would plan to put his photo on some of the patron tables (inserted under a slab of glass) so that people would see him and listen to his music while having their pre-dinner drinks. Nice reward for him !

Thanks for your reply, John, it’s always pleasant to get support from a real musette enthusiast !

Warmest Regards,

Eric

 

[maugein96]

Hi Eric,

It's difficult for those of us who live outside of France to get the picture with regard to the younger generation.

Good to hear that youngsters are getting interested in musette again, although I met some French kids in their 20s in Greece recently, and they claimed they never knew anybody who still played the accordion. I appreciate that the opinion of a handful of kids is not enough to form any conclusion, and only people who live in France will know what the true position is. The kids were from the Rennes area, so maybe the situation in the Paris environs is different.

Personally speaking I wasn't very keen on "new" musette at all when it appeared in the 90s, although I am now of the opinion that it is better to have new musette than no musette.

The valse you mentioned, "Amelie", is certainly popular with accordionists (and millions of other musicians it seems), although tonight is the first time I've ever listened to it all the way through. I think I would have to watch the film to appreciate the tune, which I believe I identified correctly as Breton folk. The last French films I watched were "Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis", and "Rien a Declarer" when I got a good laugh at Danny Boon, even if I couldn't understand half of the dialogue. Can't remember the last romantic film I watched in anybody's language, as I'm a bit of a "filmophobe".

Nice to hear from you again, Eric, and if I can ever persuade my wife (who hates cities and accordions) to visit Paris, then I might manage a visit to Balajo. That was a nice gesture by the current owners to have your father's photo placed on the tables. I suppose I could always go on my own, but my last divorce cost me a lot of money!

Kind regards,

John W

 

[Fratelli Crosio 60]

Hi John,
Yes, I understand what you mean, but as I live in France, it’s easier for me to see and observe what happens in the country, and I was delighted to notice that nowadays, many teenagers (especially in the Parisian region, that’s true) feel that accordion is quite an attractive instrument after all. I was also surprised to see that they like « old style » valses musette, such as for instance this talented young girl, Elsa (eleven in 2013) who plays a nice rendition of the Joseph Colombo/Tony Murena waltz, Indifférence :



What do you think ?...

Classical musette will come back one day in my opinion, it’s just a matter of time, you know. Good music can’t die, anyway. And films like Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain will definitely be helpful for that (BTW, the valse Amelie reminds Breton folk, that’s true). Even if you are a bit of a « filmophobe », I’m sure you’ll like it because the film reflects so much the Paris atmosphere of the good old days. In that sense, the film is really a full success.

Well, John, if you can persuade your wife (why not ?) to visit Paris, I would be too happy to take a drink together with both of you at the Balajo which is still really the accordion temple in Paris ! (I’m sure she would change her mind after the experience !). For the musette accordion nostalgics, I would say this is THE place to visit in priority, for the music of course, but also for the furniture and decoration which are still beautiful, unique and mostly vintage.
You (and your wife) are welcome anytime in the city of lights, Im waiting for you.

Thank you very much again.

Warmest Regards,

Eric

 

[Geronimo]

Well, John, if you can persuade your wife (why not ?) to visit Paris, I would be too happy to take a drink together with both of you at the Balajo which is still really the accordion temple in Paris ! (I’m sure she would change her mind after the experience !).

Id be deadly afraid of the but you dont play anything like that effect...