Accordion Tribe were an international

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

group featuring Bratko Bibič (Slovenia),

Lars Hollmer Lars Gustav Gabriel Hollmer (21 July 1948 – 25 December 2008) was a Swedish accordionist, keyboardist and composer, whose work drew on music ranging from Nordic folk tunes to progressive rock. He has been a member and/or founder of over hal ...

(Sweden),

Maria Kalaniemi Maria Kalaniemi (born 27 May 1964 in Espoo, Finland) is a Finnish accordionist. She was classically trained, gaining her MMus from the Sibelius Academy in 1992, but has become mostly known as a folk musician having played this music from childhoo ...

(Finland),

Guy Klucevsek Guy Klucevsek (February 26, 1947 – May 22, 2025) was an American accordionist and composer known for his fusion of polka, minimalism and experimental music. He began playing accordion at age five and later studied at the California Institute of ...

(USA/Slovenia) and

Otto Lechner Otto Lechner (born February 25, 1964) is an Austrian accordionist. Lechner taught himself to play the accordion starting at age four. He has been blind since age 15. Lechner is currently a member of the group Accordion Tribe and musical directo ...

(Austria). They have recorded three albums, have toured Europe several times and played in Victoriaville (QC) Canada in 1998. In 2006 the third Accordion Tribe album, ''Lunghorn Twist'', recorded in Uppsala at Lars Hollmer's Chickenhouse studios was picked in Songlines Magazine "Top of the World" chart.

Biography

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in May 1996, five internationally respected accordionists convened to form an ensemble that would explore the use of the instrument in different cultures and musical contexts. They rehearsed for three days and performed in

Vooruit Vooruit ( , ) is a historic complex in Ghent, Belgium. Vooruit was originally the festival and art centre of the Ghent-based labour movement, with a ballroom, cinema, theatre, etc. It is now mainly used for concerts and other cultural events ...

, following it with a three-week European tour. Their performances were recorded, and a self-titled album was culled from the results. In 1998, Klucevsek put together Accordion Tribe II, with

Alan Bern Alan Bern (Bloomington, Indiana, 1955) is an American composer, pianist, accordionist, educator and cultural activist, based in Berlin since 1987. He is the founding artistic director of Yiddish Summer Weimar and the Other Music Academy (OMA). He ...

Amy Denio Amy Denio (born June 9, 1961) is a Seattle-based multi-instrumental composer of soundtracks for modern dance, film and theater, as well as a songwriter and music improviser. Her inspirations include world music, and is mainly known as a vocali ...

, and

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

, again touring Europe and prompting a reunion of the original ensemble. On December 25, 2008, member Lars Hollmer died after a brief illness. The group thus performed as a quartet during their already scheduled April 2009 tour, "in memory of their friend and colleague". In 2010 Klucevsek announced that he had decided to let the group come to an end as an ongoing project but did not rule out the possibility of a reunion concert in the future.

Discography

*''Accordion Tribe'' (1997) *''Sea of Reeds'' (2002) *''Lunghorn Twist'' (2006)

Film

''Accordion Tribe - Music Travels'' is a

German-language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It is a ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the band, produced by Maximage of Switzerland and written and directed by Stefan Schwietert. It premiered in January 2004. In 2005 it won the Swiss Film Prize for the Best Documentary, as well as the documentary film prize at the Würzburg International Filmweekend. The film features the life of the band on the road and in concert, as well as exploring each individual member in their homelands.

References

External links

* *
Accordion Tribe homepage
Accordion organizations {{Belgium-band-stub