Master Accordion, pretty sure key of C. Looks like it was played professionally. It's been played a lot. Has 1/4" output. Not sure if the mic is still in it. Bellows seemed good. All the keys worked. Sounded good. The pads look like they'll need refelting at some point.
Price tag is $699.00. He will take $500.00 in CASH. He turned down $400 cash.
Many thanks, Joey! I've wanted a Master accordion ever since playing Chris Miller's beloved Master accordion some years ago, and now I have one!
Chris, Jude, or Jed/Jerry Bellot could tell you a whole lot more (and I hope they will) about Charlie Ortego, but my understanding is that for a long time, if you were outside the Lafayette area, in Lake Charles and all points West, Charlie Ortego was THE man to see about a Cajun accordion, and one of the only builders around, period. Consequently, all those men I named quite naturally had Master accordions.
Jude Moreau had three of them, his last one being built in 1988. Jude very graciously agreed to go check this accordion out for me the very afternoon of the day I called him, and the good people of Triangle Pawn (whom I highly recommend) agreed to hold it for me until Jude got there.
Jude wowed everyone at the Pawn Shop, not only with his masterful playing, but with his formidable knowledge of accordions, and the history of this make of accordion in particular, and its builder, his good friend Charile Ortego. I'm sure they'll be talking about this unexpected Monday afternoon performance and history lesson for years to come. Anyway, Jude called me, made the purchase for me (!), and told me all about the fine qualities of the accordion, and gave me some fascinating history of it and its builder, Charlie Ortego. I could write a whole 'nuther posting about what a good man Jude Moreau is, and the good things I think about him . . . but now for the RRRREST of the story:
After Jude and I hung up, I went back to work, and had worked about 20 more minutes on a fouled up irrigation system when Jude called me back. He was checking out the guts of the accordion, when he saw something on the inside of it that alerted him, something peculiar to Jude's own modus operandi with accordions. Sure enough, Jude checked a little further, and there it was: a stamp on the inside that said: "Jude Moreau" - this WAS Jude's old accordion!
The last one he bought from Mr. Ortego, and the last one he had sold to an old black gentlemen, years before!
The old accordion had had the reeds, the key, and the tuning changed many times since it had left Jude's hands, to accommodate the Zydeco style, and though it's seen some years and some playing, sounds like it's still in great shape, and back to the key of C. After all these years, Jude's last Master accordion had come back into the hands of its original owner, now a master builder and player himself.
And THAT'S the RRRRest of the story!
Many thanks, Jude! I'm proud and glad that I got to be a small part of that story.
I chalk this up to fate, it was meant to be. ABTW Jamey, I couldn't have written that story any better myself. It was my pleasure to help you my friend!
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
