Les accordeons de France (The Accordions of France)

In this beautifully remastered, 18-song, Arkadia Chansons CD collection of instrumental and sung melodies featuring France’s superstars of the accordion era, entitled Les Accordeons de France, the operative word is Joy, the kind of joy that comes from letting oneself go.

The most inveterate of snobs will have a hard time resisting the rhythm of Medard Ferrero’s Les triolets. Robert Trognee’s Le retour des hirondelles is a classic accordionized waltz. Emile Garrigoux gives a rousing performance of the other mainstay of the accordion – the java. Despite the pervasive gaiety, there is also something somewhat plaintive in the sound of the accordion, which no doubt helps explain its popularity among the working classes. The great accordionist, Tony Murena, is heard here playing Le Denichuer and Indifference, two wistful melodies, reminiscent of a sea-side summer at twilight.

All the songs here belong to the heyday of this under-appreciated instrument. Hard as it may be to believe, in Paris in the 1930s, there were more than 300 “bals musette,” or accordion balls, in operation. There, couples forgot their cares, dancing to sounds pumped out by the masters of the soulful and bellowing instrument, until the Parisian sunrise brought them back to reality. This Arkadia Chansons CD, Les Accordeons de France, takes us back in time to musically remember that magical era, proving, try as one might, you simply cannot deny the melodious accordion its rightful place in the grand tradition of French song.

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This beautifully remastered, 19-song collection of instrumental and sung melodies features France’s superstars of the accordion era, and proves the melodious and soulful accordion’s rightful place in the grand tradition of French chanson (song).