Guy Klucevsek

There are certain instruments that remain a mystery even within their own culture. The accordion is one example of this: an instrument everyone vaguely recognizes and has heard occasionally, but which most would be pressed to explain exactly how one goes about extracting from it any sort of noise. Despite the fact that it has been incorporated into American folk music, most people place the accordion in the eastern European tradition, conjuring up images of German beerhaus bands, polkas and lots of oom-pah oom-pah. Not many people recognize the accordion as an instrument intimately involved with the avant-garde movements both in the States and abroad.

Perhaps this is why posters advertising Guy Klucevsek's performance as part of the MPR Thursday Night Jazz Series announced that Guy would make you "forget everything you ever thought you knew about the accordion." Having heard Klucevsek on the Dave Douglas album Charms of the Night Sky, I didnıt necessarily have to forget everything I thought I knew about the accordion, but close enough. Gone was the oom-pah oom-pah; in its place were haunting melodies blending folk traditions with Guyıs very personal and forward-thinking soundscapes, complete with distortion and vocal yelps, shouts, and whistles.

Several of the ten pieces Guy performed were written as suites for dance and theatre groups in Pennsylvania and New York and usually focused around traditional folk rhythms. Because solo accordion compositions are hard to come by, most pieces were either composed by or commissioned for Klucevsek himself. "Breath and Bones," written for Klucevsek in 1996 by Jerome Kitzke, was his most physically exerting piece, with Guy shouting, stomping, slapping and bouncing his right hand along the keyboard. The second set opened with another commissioned piece, "Blue Jets Red Sprites" by Lois V. Vierk. The title referred to a term for high-stratosphere lightening and manifested itself as powerfully dense sound composed of large swells of tone followed by silence. During this piece, the accordion became not only an instrument capable of evoking an intense emotional response through its aural qualities, but also one that was aesthetically pleasing to watch as it repeatedly unfolded and folded into itself.

For those who would like to partake in this aesthetic experience, your best chance would be the Knitting Factory Jazz Festival during mid-June in New York City. Anyone travelling to the Netherlands could keep a lookout for the Dave Douglas quartet, which will be touring there this summer. To acoustically partake in the Klucevsek experience, take a listen to Charms of the Night Sky or Accordion Tribe, an amazing release on the German Intuition label which features highlights from a 1996 European tour. On this recording you will hear not only the solo accordion but also work for duo, trio, quartet and quintet accordion ensembles with fellow accordionists Bratko Bibic, Lars Hollmer, Maria Kalaniemi, and Otto Lechner.

- Susan Sakash