Musette with a Swiss accent

[maugein96]

OK, I know the musette genre is not for everybody, and Ill slow down a bit with posts after this one. Problem is Ive spent a great part of my life listening to it in all its flavours, and am keen to share the experience with others. Ive tried to put it aside and play other instruments and styles, but it still comes back to haunt me every time.

I suppose what tends to put people off the musette style is that a lot of the tunes tend to represent precisely what turns a lot of people off the accordion. The simple melodies, samey chord progressions and bass patterns (Ive seen it referred to as oompah on the forum) is perhaps too repetitive for some of the classical and jazz orientated forum members. However, that same simplicity means that just about everybody wants to have a go at it, and the efforts of some are decidedly better than others. Many a time Ive watched a video clip and cringed with embarrassment, but was nevertheless grateful that the player had the courage to post it. A lot of us dont have the musical ability for the classics and/or jazz, and have to content ourselves with musette and other simpler styles.

Anyway, here is a clip of Rene Dessibourg, a Swiss player from the Jura region, who owned a restaurant and began to play accordion for his customers. He eventually had his own band, and always played in the Swiss style, which I hope youll hear coming through. I know a lot of you will be tired of listening to my selections, and unfortunately this clip also features a waltz. The musette style is also very popular in the French speaking part of Switzerland, albeit with a distinct Swiss flavour.

 

[JIM D.]

"Great Performance - Extremely Refreshing !!!"

 

[Matt Butcher]

I hope you will carry on posting whenever you feel like it; no one is forced to listen and I suspect a lot of the information that you've built up over many years is not going to be available elsewhere in English, so even if no one replies right away by posting you are putting it out there for other people to draw on for inspiration.

And this clip does have a distinctive feel around the timing and phrasing etc. and it's very light and enjoyable and very well played; relaxing entertainment with that little bit of extra bite that you get from listening to someone who can really play; well worth hearing.

 

[maugein96]

Thanks for that Matt. I suppose people are under no obligation to listen like you say.

I have a confession to make. The vast majority of the info I have obtained over the years came to me via an old friend, Frank Mabbutt, a Londoner who married a girl from West Lothian in Scotland and moved there. I used to live near him and we regularly had accordion jam sessions, usually in his house. He's still on the go, and in his late 80s. I haven't lost touch with him completely , although I should really make an effort to get up and see him very soon. He suffers from a deteriorating eye condition, and hasn't much sight left. What Frank doesn't know about French accordion, and accordion music in general isn't worth knowing. He used to work as a finance rep and was regularly involved with accordion hire purchase transactions. One of his main clients was Jimmy Clinkscale, who had an accordion shop in Melrose, and Frank ordered a series of French spec CBA accordions from Jimmy over the years. Frank also used to regularly communicate with French players (via a language teacher who taught French), and ended up getting loads of free music and records as a result. French musette is also his passion, although his interests are a lot broader than mine. He currently plays the same model Maugein accordion as I do, although he has owned quite a number of boxes in his time. Despite all that he is an amateur player, the same as I am.

Frank's father was a professional accordionist (PA) who played in the Lyon's tea houses in London. He would often have to learn tunes in different keys, as his accordion reeds would get contaminated by all the tobacco smoke in the tea houses, and he would often be forced to play the most popular tunes in alternative keys. Frank was able to meet various professional players on account of his father's contacts. He was friendly with Albert Delroy, one of the very few English players who made professional French musette recordings on a Cavagnolo PA. He would always pose with it so you couldn't see the piano keys, as he liked to pretend that he played a CBA!

Anyway I'm off on another ramble. Rene Dessibourg was one of the best accordionists to have come out of Switzerland. His playing was always accurate and varied. He was maybe not so well known as Freddy Balta, but I preferred his style. If you want free CBA lessons, look up You Tube and find another Swiss guy, Jean-Yves Sixt, who offers about 10 free lessons on CBA technique. He sometimes plays a blue Italian Stocco with 4x2 bass, as well as various other instruments with 3x3. I believe quite a few Swiss players specify 4x2 bass, but I'm not really sure.

 

[landro]

Enjoying it ! I like all the different musette tunings. The musette on some of the old accordions were especially good.

 

[maugein96]

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

It is a sad fact that we often need to look back to hear the best playing. There is little doubt that musette was in its heyday in the postwar days and into the late 60s. Tunes were being composed and recorded at a tremendous rate. The playing was often influenced by swing and jazz, as well as the gypsy element, which was significant enough to persuade some prominent players to compose and play almost exclusively in those styles. Unfortunately, the old "Bals Musette" of Paris were hotbeds of just about every criminal activity known to man, and the accordion was consequently often associated with the dregs of the earth.

In recognition of that fact accordion clubs were set up, particularly in the north of the country, where the focus was on "civilised" accordion concerts rather than dancing. This was intended to "clean up" the image of the accordion, and produced a lot of virtuoso compositions in the otherwise rough and ready musette repertoire. The polkas of the Belgian virtuoso Adolphe Deprince were an example.

However, as people began to turn to things like television for their entertainment, and British and American "pop" groups flooded the charts, the poor old accordion was almost trampled to death in the stampede. In the early 70s some French players high tailed it to the US to play at hotel venues, and they adapted their style to suit the Transatlantic audiences. By that time the musette was being well and truly thrashed by its competition, and it was only a handful of the really big name players who were able to continue with any success. Unfortunately that usually consisted of compilations featuring the same musette "standards" from the good old days, and by producing such material based on former glory, they were effectively putting nails in their own coffin lids.

A "new wave" musette revival was created by a group of players, mainly of Italian descent, in the 90s. These were Richard Galliano, Jean Corti, Denis Tuveri, Marcel Azzola, and one or two others. They certainly made a big impression on musette lovers, and seem to have sparked off renewed interest amongst the younger generation.

France is still perhaps one place where the accordion has retained a degree of popularity, which is perhaps understandable.

Most French accordions these days are LMM, so do not have that old fashioned musette sound. The MMM instruments required to play "musette pur" are still available, and seem to have gained in popularity in recent years.

In the clip relating to the original post Rene Dessibourg plays a Cavagnolo with two voice "americain" tuning. He did also play with MMM musette, but appears to have latterly switched to americain tuning.

 

[landro]

MMM tuning might well be preferred in Europe but I find here in the states (at least in the northeast) it`s a niche sale and not really in demand . LMM is rather well received though.

 

[maugein96]

In Scotland where I am there is a tradition of very wet musette tuning, although most players have 4 voice LMMM instruments, so they have the bassoon reed if they want it.

French accordion enthusiasts in Scotland are very rare, as are French instruments. We usually end up taking whatever instruments we can get, and with hindsight I would have gone over to France to buy mine. I've ended up with an oddball lot of four, and none of them is precisely what I was looking for.

As I only play for home entertainment, I have promised my wife that there will be no more.