Does anyone know the brand of acordion use by Jo-El Sonnier on his "Cajun Life" CD.

His versions of Allons a Lafayette and Les Flammes D'Enfer sure put it to the test.

Unfortunatly, the liner notes only refer to it a a French accrdion.

Tnx
RPr

Well I know Jo-el plays on Martins now but I'm pretty sure he didnt play one on that CD. It might be one of his Magnolia accordions. I'm pretty sure he has a bunch of dif. brands though. I know he started out playing an old Monarch...or was it a Sterling? Then I think he played on a Sidney Brown for a while. The one on the cover of that CD looks either like a Sidney Brown or Charlie Ortego (Master brand).

John

Not sure, but he has many different brands...a whole closet full. Jr. Martin was not making accordions at the time of "Cajun Life." I'm pretty sure it is not a Master, although I know that later he recorded "Tear Stained Letter" for RCA with a Master Bb. Magnolia sounds like a good guess; I remember seeing him on Passe Partout morning shows and it seems like it was a blue accordion...hmm... I am pretty sure he used a Monarch or Sterling on "Chere Alice" and and anything else in C or G. Flemmes was on a D and Allons a Lafayette, Perrodin, Bayou Teche, Jambalaya, and maybe a few other were all on an F accordion.

I had the pleasure of working with Joel a couple of times ( running sound ). I asked him about the sound of his accordions on his different recordings and he told me that the sound is produced in the studio with effects ,in an effort to reproduce the "old time" sound.
So , I believe the answer to your question is really a mute point. It doesn't really matter which brand accordion he used. The sound was produced by the magic of the studio electronics.
Jude

Thanks for the info.

I am one of those folks who likes the sound of the bass reeds. In Jo-El's recording they are very rich and not covered up by the rest of the band.

RPr