Steve Albini
The Great Steve Albini was our featured performer at our April meeting. Steve always puts on a great show, but this was one to remember. Steve, Tony and Carlo was a show you could see in Las Vegas!
Click here for more info about Steve.
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The Presidents Message
Dear Friends
Spring is here and the weather is turning nice at last. We welcomed spring with our annual Spring Fling which was a very nice event. We had a respectable turnout, and I believe that everyone had a good time. Many thanks to all of the usual wonderful volunteers who gave their time and efforts to bring this about for 2014. Thanks again to Phil and Cheri Marcucci for their generosity with their excellent red wines – Pinot Noir and Zinfandel, which topped off a very nice meal. I saw a lot of happy dancers, and we have to thank Steve, Steve, Art and Scott for this. All in all, I think that we welcomed in spring in style.
April is the month when we choose our officers and board members for the coming year. So far, the response to our call for potential candidates has been underwhelming. On an optimistic note I suppose that this could mean that the general membership likes and approves of what your officers and board members have been doing. I hope that this is the case, however it’s still not too late to throw your hat into the ring.
For our April meeting, which is on Monday the 21st , we have a very talented old friend and a past president of our club as our featured entertainer. Steve Albini will be taking some time from his busy schedule to entertain us this month. He is a great ambassador for the accordion. Steve performs regularly at Francis Ford Coppola’s restaurant in Geyserville every Tuesday night along with various musical engagements throughout the country in addition to his position with the Roland Corporation. I know that he just got back from a gig in New Jersey, my home state. I don’t know if he will be playing his Roland FR-7X, his Roland FR-8X, or his Concerto this time around, but whichever one he chooses, he will make our evening’s music memorable. Steve is a multifaceted musician and singer who is well versed in many genres of music from classical to jazz along with rock, polka, tango and a variety of ethnic music as well. This would be a good meeting to invite a friend to attend. There may also be one or two other surprise performers as well, but this is not yet definite so I’ll just leave that thought with you as a teaser and you’ll have to be at the meeting to see if that comes to pass.
Before I close I would like to remind everyone that our monthly meetings are always held on the third Monday of the month unless there is a special event for that month which we will actively publicize. The special events take place in March, July, and December unless you are informed otherwise.
Hope to see a great turnout for the April meeting.
Tony Mustaro
President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods
News, March 2014
Accordion & Teachers Guild
July 23 though July 26, 2014
To see the flyer about the Accordion & Teachers Guild Click here
Accordion Stars
August 18 through August 21, 2014
To see the flyers for the Accordion Stars event in Las Vegas, click here, then when that flyer comes up click on the Special Invitation area for reservations. Enjoy!
Marcucci Farms & Winery
We wish to thank ACR Charter member Phillip Marcucci and his wife, Cheri, for their generosity by donating their Fava Bros. Pinot Noir and Zinfandel wine from the Marcucci Farms to our recent Spring-Fling Dinner/Dance. The wine was of top quality and received many praises. It complemented a delicious dinner.
Corrections to last months newsletter
About out Spring Fling March 22 comment, I should have noted that the comment was from your editor, me, Art Clark. Sorry for any confusion that may have caused.
It also was one of the best that I have had the pleasure of attending! Check out the following pages for some of your friends that were able to attend!
About Harry’s Life
For those of you that could not make it to Harry Thomsen’s funeral, you may want to click SFGate Obituary to view his life story.
Spring Fling Flyer
Coming Events
Saturday March 22nd 2014 click form below to see flyer ACR Spring Fling.
The Presidents Message
Dear Friends
Here it is March again and that means it’s time for our annual Spring Fling dinner dance. The meal will be catered by Lombardi Catering of Petaluma and we will be serving Italian style roasted chicken along with their excellent Caesar salad and penne pasta. Once again also to accompany the meal will will have great red wines from Marcucci Winery courtesy of Cheri and Phil Marcucci. White wine will also be available.
Dance music will be provided by the Steve Balich Band following dinner and there will be a no host bar and music provided before dinner as well.
Please note that time is quickly running out to make your reservation for this event. Please do so at once before it is too late! We must give a count to the caterer in advance of the event as I am sure you realize, so don’t be left out. Our dinner dances are the best entertainment, dining, and dancing value available today.
Speaking of great values, we had a great turnout for our last meeting Gumbo feed and I would like to thank all of our wonderful (and usual) volunteers for making this event such a success.
Another year has brought us to the annual elections also. Once again the officers and board members of the Accordion Club of the Redwoods invites you to throw your hat in the ring if you would like to become one of the planners and doers in our club. Please contact one of us if you would like to run. If you don’t want to jump right into it, become a volunteer, attend a board meeting, give us your ideas, donate your time, donate your services, help a member who no longer cares to drive at night by driving them to a meeting. In short, do something.
We have even stopped serving food at most meetings because after doing it for years and years Jan could no longer do it. For months I asked for volunteers to take her place. Instead, the club voted to discontinue serving food rather than come up with even one person to take on this task. Now we are hearing complaints because we are no longer serving food.
That small group of people which actually keeps the club running and financially sound is treated to comments that it is a closed group. If it truly is a closed group it is because no one is willing to come in and join the group not because it seeks to keep people out. That’s the end of my rant. I thank all of those who have worked so hard to make this club successful.
Hope to see everyone at the Spring Fling this year. Please attend and support the club by bringing a guest.
Tony Mustaro
President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods
Entertainment, March 2014
Diane Toso and Jerry Connell
Diane and Jerry are beginners but played like pros! Their playlist was “Under Paris Skies” and “ Chiquitin de Bachen”. Keep up the good work guys!
Guy Richards
What can you say about this guy Guy that has not been said before? Nada! His play list was “Santa Lucia”, “old Man River”, “Never on a Sunday”, “The God Father”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, and many more, I lost track!
Lou Di Magio
Long time no see Lou! Great to have you back! Lou’s play list was “Teran Tella”, “ Tico Tico”, “Bese May Mucho”, “Dirty Fingers (Kitten in the Tree)”, “Medley of Musicals”, “What is this Thing Called Love?”, and ‘Lover”.
Joe Domitrowich
What a class act. Here is his play list as supplied by Joe. I could not keep up. “Jambalaya (in honor of Kris’ excellent gumbo…what a treat!)”, ”Schoen Rosmarin (classical composition by Fritz Kreisler – part of my Café Vienna ensemble (violin and accordion) repertoire)”, “Peanuts Polka”, “Moliendo Café (Cuban Salsa selection)”, “Ave Maria”, “Around the World Waltz Medley”, also from my Café Vienna repertoire. Consists of Tulips from Amsterdam/Wonderful Copenhagen/Wunderbar(Cole Porter)/Around the World (from the movie, Around the World in 80 Days). I Saw Her Standing There – in honor of the 50 year anniversary of the debut of The Beatles, “Just Another Polka (1950s hit parade polka)”, “Oye Como Va (Santana)”, “In the Mood – full arrangement”, “Train Ride” (Medley of train tunes from my CD Something for Everyone).
News, March 2014
Harry Thomsen
Harry passed away on Saturday February 8th 2014. He was a gentle man and a gentleman. He was a good friend to all and there when needed. I am sure he will be holding a table for us up there to join him in dancing. Up there is where all dancers go, right?
NOTE FROM YOUR EDITOR
About out Spring Fling, March 22nd, PLEASE get your reservations in NOW. Our reservations are very low, hardly worth having a Spring Fling, in my opinion. Tell you friends and fellow members about this as the printed newsletter does not come until next week or so. Also, page 6 is your renewal form, use it!
Coming Events
Our very own Spring Fling on March 22nd. NO MEETING ON MARCH 22nd
About the Gumbo Feed
None of this could have happened without the herculean efforts of Kris, Tony(no pics), Jan, Jane, Pete, Annette, John and others. Kris actually took a half day off from work on Monday for us. Kris and Tony started prepping for 5 hours on Sunday, then cooked from 2 PM till 7 PM on Monday. I did not get nearly enough pictures of the crew. Please take a few moments at the Spring Fling to thank them for their efforts!
The President’s Message
Dear Friends,
Last month’s meeting was a lot of fun with a lot of good music. This is what our club is all about. I was very happy to see such a good turnout of members to kick off the new year.
There was a very nice variety of music with selections from Olga Fansler, Xavier de la Prade, Sheri Mignano, Stanko Pecavar, Guy Richards, and George Simko. I even got into the act to play some fun duets with George. I heard many positive comments about our program for the evening.
For the month of February we have another great meeting planned. Kris Nelson is cooking his famous Gumbo for us before the meeting, so come out and bring a friend. We’ll be serving the gumbo with rice, salad and French bread, so there will be plenty to eat and our friends at Hermann Sons will have the bar open if you’re thirsty. Dinner will be served starting at our usual time of 6:30 and the price is, as with all of our club events, a great bargain.
Our featured performer for this month is Joe Domitrowich. It’s always fun when Joe comes to play for us and tells me that he’s worked up a brand new program which he will perform on his one man orchestra. Come on out and have something to eat and see what musical dishes Joe has cooked up for us as well.
Don’t forget next month is our annual Spring Fling dinner dance. We’ll have more great food from Lombardi Catering and wine from Marcucci Winery and dance music from the Steve Balich Band. I am hoping to see another good turnout for this event.
On a sadder note I received a call from Dorothy Orchid to inform me that Carl Fortina has passed away. Carl appeared on the Spike Jones Show, Jack Benny Show, and the Dean Martin Variety Hour as a credited performer. He also worked on the Peter Gunn, Bonanza, and Gun Smoke TV series. Some sources credit him with playing on 25,000 to 35,000 TV shows. He played on over 550 motion picture scores including Charade, Camelot, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Godfather. He was a native of San Francisco first appearing before an audience of 17,000 people at five years of age and becoming a well known vaudeville performer as a boy. He moved to Los Angeles in 1949 and started his long career in the TV, recording and movie business. Listen for the accordions of Carl Fortina and Frank Morocco on the Beach Boys gold record song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”. Carl was one the greats of the accordion world and he will be missed.
Tony Mustaro
President
Accordion Club of the Redwoods
