Why not accordion ?

Years ago in my bachelor days,I went through a Cajun phase where I regularly visited friends in New Orleans to party. I picked up a taste for zydeco. Of course, the accordion is integral in zydeco music and the best practitioners use the instrument to motivate people on the dance floor as well as make them cry during ballads. My favorites are Clifton Chenier, his son C.J. Chenier, and Buckwheat Zydeco. Cedric Watson is terrific as well. Great fun and musicianship from an instrument too often associated with Weird Al type clowns.

I'll second the Cajun suggestion. Zachary Richard is a personal favorite for his hybrid Cajun-pop music (both zydeco and waltz) and his singing. Early on, the wonderful guitarist Sonny Landreth played in Richard's band.

Another Cajun band that sometimes features accordion is Beausoleil, and they're also always great. Consistently marvelous fiddle playing as well as occasional accordion wizzardry.

I'm also a fan of both Flaco and Hidalgo. The last Las Lobos show that I attended saw David Hidalgo spend roughly half his stage time on accordion. He's one of my favorite guitarists, but I wasn't the least bit disappointed by his choice.

I grew up watching the Lawrence Welk Show (my Pa was from S. Dakoda), and always enjoyed Lawrence and his bandleader's playing. Then in the 70's, playing in a band whose repertoire included Hard Country, got into Flaco etc., but have never played with an accordionist myself. Garth Hudson of The Band played it a little with them---on Dylan's When I Paint My Masterpiece, for one.

Two bands that I love are Paris Combo and Quadro Nuevo and they both use accordians, though it's not always used with Paris Combo. I couldn't imagine either one without the use of an accordion. Done properly in a Jazz setting, it's a wonderful instrument full of life and expression and as valuable as any other instrument used.

You can lead with it or play backup and it harmonizes beautifully to the point where it can fool you into thnking it's a completely different instrument. You just have to hear played in the hands of a pro to appreciate it.

All the best,
Nonoise

More Theremin While we're at it too please. 👽