http://www.myspace.com/martingreen
http://www.themartingreenmachine.com/
http://www.myspace.com/laumusic

“…Kris Drever grew up on Orkney and is celebrated for his singing and
guitar playing - his talents as an accompanist have been sought by folk
stars such as Kate Rusby….
Award-winning fiddler and composer, Aidan O’Rourke (‘Instrumentalist of
the Year’ 2006 Scots Trad Music Awards), hails from the Scottish coastal
town of Oban….
Martin Green is from south of the border, East Anglia raised. A true
maverick, he is in constant demand for his accordion playing and has toured
in the bands of Eliza Carthy, Joan Baez, Linda Thompson and many other
great names of folk music.”

“Finnish accordion adventurist Kimmo Pohjonen’s singular mission is to expand the capabilities, sound, scope, performance and experience of the accordion to levels never before attempted, seen or heard. Accordion, voice, effects, surround sound and light show combine to make a unique and captivating performance event.”

http://www.kimmopohjonen.com/nav.php?url=bio.html

“Accordion player and composer, Jonas Kocher studied a.o. with Teodoro Anzellotti, Pierre Sublet and Georges Aperghis. He collaborates regularly as accordionist in improvised and conceptual contexts with musicians such Michel Doneda, Christian Wolfarth, Olivier Toulemonde, Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Luca Venitucci, Burkhard Beins, duo Diatribes, Jacques Demierre, Christian Kesten, Gaudenz Badrutt, Chris Heenan, … . Jonas Kocher’s work explores the relationships between tone, noise and silence and the processus of listening. As composer he realises projects which are situated between composed theater, installation and concert pieces.”

http://www.jonaskocher.net

http://www.myspace.com/jonaskocher

“The biggest impact came from Mari Kalkun, who issued her second album late last year. Her sonic drift sits in the same world as Nico and Bridget St John. Melody was not the point, atmosphere was. Sat with a zither or an accordion, she explained her songs are about the wind, the elements.”

http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/theartsdesk-tallinn-music-week-european-city-culture

“Accordion Wrestling is a sport, theatre, dance, music performance art piece conceived by Kimmo Pohjonen. The performance, featuring Pohjonen and ten Finnish wrestlers, is a revival of Finnish wrestling tradition from early to mid-1900s where accordion was included as musical accompaniment for wrestling matches. “

http://www.theartsdesk.com/calendar/new-music/accordion-wrestling-york-hall-london

http://www.theartsdesk.com/classical-music/classical-cds-weekly-bridge-mahler-ksenija-sidorova

“Hearing this life-enhancing CD got me thinking about why some organ music gives me the heebie-jeebies and accordion music generally doesn’t; it’s to do with the way that a good accordionist can make the instrument vocalise and sing, whereas an organ chord played by insensitive fingers can be just a solid, stark parp – the sound of the funeral parlour. In short, an accordion can speak as if it’s alive. The young Latvian player Ksenija Sidorova’s debut disc succeeds triumphantly through a mixture of imaginative programming and staggering technique. There’s a mixture of fun transcriptions and tougher, ear-stretching contemporary works written for the instrument.”

John Hollenbeck ”Hollenbeck is a composer of music uncategorizable beyond the fact of being always identifiably his. …The last of that initial burst of creativity was the self-titled debut of the Claudia Quintet, Hollenbeck’s longest-running ensemble. Over the course of its six CDs, Claudia has cemented its reputation as one of the most innovative and adaptable units in modern jazz, so deftly attuned to one another that Hollenbeck’s most dizzying compositional leaps are taken with an air of playfulness and skewed humor.” http://johnhollenbeck.com/about/

“More venerable, the duo Maria Kalaniemi & Timo Alakotila’s new album Åkerö teams Kalaniemi’s accordion (her stature is equal to Pohjonen’s) with Alakotila’s (he’s known as a composer and arranger) rolling piano and colour from sax and brass to evoke a bucolia that contrasts with Lepitö & Lehti’s more urban outlook” http://www.theartsdesk.com/users/kierontyler

“Local traditions are still important to Finnish music though. The second album from the double bass and accordion duo Lepistö & Lehti is the terrific Radio Moskova, a title acknowledging accordionist Pekka Lehti’s youthful obsession with the radio that strayed across Finland’s eastern border. The accordion is embedded in Finland and, as far as the outside world is concerned, pretty much identified with Kimmo Pohjonen, but that doesn’t prevent Radio Moskova from being utterly fresh and beguiling. Swinging like jazz with accordion phrasing verging on serial music, the album is a joy, no matter how melancholy the lilt of the melodies. A dance hall is the right place for Lepistö & Lehti.” http://www.theartsdesk.com/users/kierontyler

Beirut, Zach Condon (beirutband.com)