Joss Baselli/Jo Basile

[maugein96]

Not many players opt to switch one bass system for another during their careers, but thats what this guy did, as well as switching his name a few times as well!

If you are in North America and if youve heard of him at all, youll probably know him as Jo Basile, which was the name he used when he played there for several years.

He was of Italian extraction, and was born as Giuseppe Baselli near Douai in the north of France, where Belgian basses are common, and the first clip shows him playing a Cavagnolo with Belgian basses, in the days before they standardised on the current grille pattern.

In the second clip he is Joss Baselli, which is the name he finally settled down with, and is playing an instrument made to his own specification, but with standard Stradella basses. Why or when he changed bass system is unknown to me, but was probably connected to the time when he decided to become an accordion teacher in Paris, where the Belgian bass would not have been a welcome choice for his students.

In 1975, along with Andre Astier, he wrote an accordion method which was a revelation at the time, as it permitted use of the thumb, not just on the first row, but on the second as well!

A virtuoso player, equally at home with classical or popular music (popular music paid the bills!), Cavagnolo even named one of their models after him, using his International name of Jo Basile. He was one of the early exponents of americain tuning which can be heard to good effect in the second clip. As French accordion music became more geared towards listening rather than dancing, with music being played more up tempo, some players broke away from the traditional three voice musette, which they felt was no longer appropriate for the developing styles of the day.

Some traditional accordionists who played three voice musette pur, objected to the new tuning, including the Parisian player, Jo Privat, who was apparently one of the most vocal on the subject. However, he ultimately made the switch, regardless, when he found that it suited his later manouche (Gypsy) style better. All he did was stipulate that the tuners left a little vibration on the sharp flute on his accordions, but it took a very keen ear to identify that vibration at times.

Anyway, here are the clips, which illustrate the change of bass system, and may be of use to any C system CBA players who are interested in watching a French player who appears to have taken the best out of the French and Italian playing methods, and combined them.

 

[Geronimo]

Not many players opt to switch one bass system for another during their careers, but thats what this guy did, as well as switching his name a few times as well!

If you are in North America and if youve heard of him at all, youll probably know him as Jo Basile, which was the name he used when he played there for several years.
[...]

There is something I dont get. Hes compressing this accordion a few times in play as if he were using a giant air button. Ok, I have a giant inconspicuous air button as well. But he takes an inordinary amount of time getting the air out after hes finished. Where does the air go to while he is playing? I mean, he could be doing playback for whatever reason but that still does not explain the large discrepancy.

 

[Geronimo]

Not many players opt to switch one bass system for another during their careers, but thats what this guy did, as well as switching his name a few times as well!

If you are in North America and if youve heard of him at all, youll probably know him as Jo Basile, which was the name he used when he played there for several years.
[...]

There is something I dont get. Hes compressing this accordion a few times in play as if he were using a giant air button. Ok, I have a giant inconspicuous air button as well. But he takes an inordinary amount of time getting the air out after hes finished. Where does the air go to while he is playing? I mean, he could be doing playback for whatever reason but that still does not explain the large discrepancy.

Actually, second clip is the same. I can only imagine that hes pushing this thing so hard that the air is overcoming the resistance of the pallet springs and leaking everywhere. He play about four times as much on the draw than when pushing without obvious air button use.

 

[maugein96]

Not many players opt to switch one bass system for another during their careers, but thats what this guy did, as well as switching his name a few times as well!

If you are in North America and if youve heard of him at all, youll probably know him as Jo Basile, which was the name he used when he played there for several years.
[...]

There is something I dont get. Hes compressing this accordion a few times in play as if he were using a giant air button. Ok, I have a giant inconspicuous air button as well. But he takes an inordinary amount of time getting the air out after hes finished. Where does the air go to while he is playing? I mean, he could be doing playback for whatever reason but that still does not explain the large discrepancy.

Actually, second clip is the same. I can only imagine that hes pushing this thing so hard that the air is overcoming the resistance of the pallet springs and leaking everywhere. He play about four times as much on the draw than when pushing without obvious air button use.

Hi Geronimo,

I also tend to play a lot more on the draw on my French made accordions, although Ive never really worked out why that is the case. Compression on all of them is such that I can pick them up and hold them by one end and the bellows will scarcely move. The bellows on French type instruments usually have more folds than normal, and most of us seem to end up with them at maximum travel at some stage in normal playing, consistent with the length of our left arms. The tendency at that point is to play on the push as fast as possible before going back to the leisurely draw again, and most of us end up with the bellows nearly at full travel at the end of a tune. I know that we should all do what the books tell us, but Ive never paid much attention to the technical aspects of bellows control, as seems to be the case with most French and Italian players Ive watched, who do not play classical. Obviously bellows shakes and other similar stuff requires the bellows to be almost closed, but there is another technique which requires repeated strikes of one or more treble buttons while maintaining a long wavering pull on the bellows to create a tremolo effect. I end up pushing and pulling the bellows naturally with no real method being involved, but certainly favour playing on the draw.

With regard to those big shunts he makes on compression I cannot explain how he is able to do that at all, unless there is some sort of built in air valve which activates automatically after bellows pressure has exceeded a certain amount. If that is the case it must be a modification, as I have owned a few French instruments and have never come across any such thing. The reeds on the treble side of my main instrument will activate with the slightest touch of a button, and are very sensitive indeed. However, on the bass side it is (just) possible to push a button in without activating a chord or note, but compression starts as soon as slightest pressure is put on the button. Fast compression by that means would be very difficult, but might be possible if you worked at it.

Some players begin to compress the top of the bellows whilst the bottom part is still actually expanding, before it too starts to compress. If you watch for that youll see what I mean, but whether it explains your question Im not sure. Although the bellows has the appearance of compressing it hasnt quite begun the actual process. Having said all that T. Ghinazzi simply bumps his bellows shut with some force before he resumes the draw. Wish there was some reference to it in either your language or mine, but it appears it must be a secret.

 

[maugein96]

Geronimo,

Heres a (long) clip of Manu Maugain, one of the new school French players and teachers.

There are one or two unexplained looking bellows pushes there as well, although youll see he often does the usual French thing of drawing the bellows right out, then works them back pushing the top of the bass side while the bottom is still very extended. Once or twice I think he pushes the air button in and slams the bellows shut, and occasionally he makes use of the fact that there are enough buttons pressed in to get the bellows back in quickly without the air button.

I suppose if you have been classically trained what hes doing may seem unorthodox, and to be honest Id never really taken much notice of bellows movement before now.

The marks towards the top of his accordion on the edge of the treble side are caused by him tapping out the time for his pupils with a heavy pencil and damaging the paint.