Mark Savoy about Bruneau - from the Mark Savoy Page
Quote: "I began getting letters from Bruneau inquiring about my accordions. Several weeks after he received the first one that he ordered, I received a phone call from him saying that he was satisfied with everything except the tuning, and could I possibly retune it if he would ship it down? By that time, I had become addicted to his music and desired to hear more, so I asked why not come down to Louisiana and bring the accordion so that I could tune it to his specifications. Unable to spare the time because of TV work, he replied, "Why don't you come up to Canada?" I arrived in Montreal the next day, thinking I had a fair knowledge of music and that I could make out well enough playing the accordion. I was soon to learn that I knew very little about both. When we arrived at his home, he sat down in front of me and said, "Now I'll show you what your accordion can do." The only accurate recollection I have of that moment was my hair standing straight up and goosebumps all over my skin. Not only did I realize that I was in the presence of musical genius, I also realized that my Acadian accordions were not good enough for a musician of such talent. I became reinspired by my involvement with these musicians. I returned to Louisiana thinking about what Philippe demanded from an instrument and how I could incorporate these criteria into my present model. It was back to the drawing board again.
When I was satisfied that I had an instrument that could keep up with Mr. Bruneau, I called him to say that the new accordion was completed but that the only way he was going to get it would be to come down to Louisiana and pick it up personally He replied that he couldn't because of TV work which he was committed to. Several weeks later, he finally realized that I was not going to ship it to him, and after many accusations that I was the most stubborn man he had ever met, he finally arrived in Louisiana."
I must say that Bruneau was very helpful and generous with his advice to anyone who would listen. He was also a very likeable person. Gills Pare who died several years ago was much the same type of person.