John Kimmel hands down the best or, at least a contender for best.. most dynamic single row player of any style?.. 1920's ??.. unbelievable player... worth listening too just to hear what is possible on a one row.
The man, hands down. I bet the accordions handled horribly (even though they sounded nice) back in the early turn of the century. Did people have different fingers back then, or what?
I'm with you on the Kimmel.
The recordings might be _slightly_ speeded up. I once related to a friend who plays Dixieland jazz that the Kimmel recordings were too sharp to play along with, and that I was using pitch shifting software to slightly lower the pitch.
He said that on some old Dixieland recordings, speed was increased (and thus, pitch) as part of the hype around certain players, groups, etc.
I wonder if that is going on with Kimmel. It would fit the whole vaudeville thing.
However, it could just be that the instruments were tuned sharper than our standard today. (sharper tunings used to be more common).
Regardless, I love listening to Kimmel. And to Montmarquette.
-Andy
You might want to check the number 3 or 5 on the push; it sounds to me like the reed "bottoms out" when you really push the bellows hard at the ends of some of the phrases and the pitch goes way off tune. I don't know if it will damage the reed or not but it sounds a bit forced at times. Or maybe it's just the little speakers in this laptop! Otherwise I enjoyed the playing and the tone of the accordion.
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
