Lawrence Welk

Born: March 11, 1903

Before he became a household name as the host of his own self-titled television show, Lawrence Welk was a hardworking bandleader shaped by the rural Midwest, European folk traditions, and the rhythms of early American dance music. Born in 1903 in North Dakota to German-Russian immigrants, Welk’s first musical instrument was the button accordion, and his early gigs were steeped in polka, waltz, and regional styles that prioritized rhythm and melody for the dance floor.

By the 1920s and '30s, Welk was leading bands across the Midwest, developing a style that would eventually be dubbed "champagne music" - smooth, tightly arranged, and bouyant. Beneath its polished surface, however, his orchestras absorbed the styles of the jazz music that was evolving around them. While his band didn't swing in the way that Goodman or Basie's did, they found great success in foxtrots, rumbas and even jazz standards, bended to match their smoothness.

Nathan Koci

Nathan Koci is a composer, performer, and music director working across a variety of stylers and disciplines, from theater to dance to improvised and experimental musics. As an accordionist, he has performed and recorded with Sam Sadigursky, Guy Klucevsek, South African artist William Kentridge, Maira Kalman, the Micheal Leonhart Orchestra, and the improvising chamber quartet The Hands Free (Caroline Shaw, Eleonore Oppenheimer, James Moore). 

As a seasoned music director, he has conducted Tony-award winning shows on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and internationally. Credits include Sufjan Stevens and Justin Peck’s Illinoise, Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown (1st National Tour), Daniel Fish’s reimagined Oklahoma! and Most Happy In Concert, and Ted Hearne’s The Source. 

Carlos Pingarilho

Born: January 7, 1940

Brazilian composer, singer and guitarist, born on January 7, 1940 in Rio de Janeiro, RJ. He co-wrote many songs with poet Marcos Vasconcellos, his most frequent partner, as well as with his cousin Marcos Valle; among them, Seu Encanto (The Face I Love) and Dorme Profundo. Pingarilho's songs have been recorded by the likes of João Gilberto, Luiz Bonfá, Elis Regina, Eumir Deodato, Andy Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Sylvia Telles, Laurindo Almeida, Joyce, Chris Montez, Leny Andrade, Kenny Barron, Joanne Brackeen, Ithamara Koorax, and most recently Gretchen Parlato on her 2024 Grammy-nominee album Lean In.
Altough active as a composer since 1963, when Marcos Valle recorded Canção Pequenina, Pingarilho only did his first recording session ever in 1998, invited by producer Arnaldo DeSouteiro to play on Dom Um Romao's Rhythm Traveller album. His debut album as a leader, Histórias E Sonhos (Stories And Dreams) came out only in 2002, for DeSouteiro's JSR label, featuring an stellar cast: Eumir Deodato, Ithamara Koorax, Marcos Valle, Dom Um Romao, Gaudencio Thiago de Mello, Bebeto Castilho (Tamba Trio), Marcelo Salazar, Jorge Pescara, Sergio Barroso and many others.

Renzo Ruggieri

Born: February 7, 1965

Accordionist, composer, teacher, graduated in jazz piano at CPM in Milan with M° Franco D'Andrea. He specializes with Frank Marocco, Adriano Mazzoletti, Richard Galliano, Ennio Morricone (Film Music) and Mario Raja (Arrangement and Composition for Jazz Big Band). He has played over 2000 concerts all over the world: Russia, USA, China, South America and almost all of Europe. He has performed in prestigious stages such as the Verona Arena, Moscow Gnessin Hall, Rome Opera House, Rostov State Musical Theater. He has participated in over one hundred productions including CDs, DVDs, compositions, didactic texts and theatrical works

Tolga During Liberdjango

Tolga was born in Istanbul in 1977 but grew up on a small island in the north of Holland. When he was eight years old he started studying classical guitar, and some years later he switched to electric guitar, and soon after started playing gigs with local rock bands. At age eighteen he moved to Amsterdam where he discovered Jazz and Django Reinhardt's Gipsy Jazz. He took lessons from time to time, but is mainly self-taught.

His first personal album 'Bohemia' (1999), was a big success, opening doors to many national and international festivals. Since then, he has played at some of the most prestigious festivals like the Montreux Jazz festival in Switzerland, and did numerous of concerts for radio and television. He got many invitations to play in Italy, and in the spring of 2005, he decided to move there all together.

The Nonidentical

Active since: 2013

Featuring leading lights of the London alternative jazz scene, The Nonidentical combines ferocious improvising with intricate compositional textures. The band came to be out of a series of experimental nights curated by composer and multi-instrumentalist Zac Gvi that brought musicians together with dancers, performance artists, poets and actors to collaborate and explore their differences and common ground. Their forthcoming debut album “Material Tropes” is a politically charged record written in response to the London riots of 2011, Situationism and the climate crisis that revisits the question of whether and on what terms music can engage with ideas outside itself.

Robert Kennedy

Born: February 27, 1966

Robert Kennedy plays jazz organ, piano, and accordion in freelance solo and group settings, and is the accordionist in the acclaimed group Mission Hot Club.

Born and raised in the American South, Robert has lived and worked in the San Francisco bay area since 1988. He played piano in the Stanford University Jazz Band and studied jazz piano with the great jazz pianist, band director, and educator Bill Bell. Robert helped found the groups Hip Pocket Jazz Quintet and Double Funk Crunch, and has had the pleasure of playing venues such as Yoshi's, the Boom Boom Room, the Agenda Lounge (back in the day) and the SFJAZZ Miner Auditorium with renowned players such as Nancy Wright, Calvin Keys, Will Weston, Terrence Brewer, and many more, playing jazz, blues, R&B, and rock and roll. Among his many inspirations Robert counts the playing of Jack McDuff, Billy Childs, Larry Goldings, Herbie Hancock, and Tony Monaco.

Thanos Stavridis

Born: September 18

Thanos Stavridis was born in Langadas, Thessaloniki. He took his first steps in learning accordion at the age of six. He studied music theory and holds degrees in Harmony, Counterpoint and Fugue. He also attended saxophone courses and reached the diploma level. He graduated from School of Music Studies of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a degree in Ethnomusicology. His Graduate Thesis is entitled ��Accordion and its technique as used by music troupes of Eastern Rumelia refugees in Greece��.

In his early undergraduate years he began playing accordion professionally at many music stages and haunts of Thessaloniki, performing rebetiko and various other genres of Greek music

Maurizio Minardi

Maurizio Minardi is an Italian composer, pianist, and accordionist currently based in Paris. Throughout his extensive career, he has traversed a multitude of musical genres, including classical, world music, pop, jazz, neoclassical, and electronic music. To date, he has released 14 albums across Italy, England, and France.

Maurizio's formal education includes studies in piano, organ, and composition at the Conservatorio 'Martini' in Bologna, Italy. He further honed his jazz skills through workshops with esteemed musicians such as Barry Harris, Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu, Danilo Rea, and Simone Zanchini.

Gary Brunotte

Born: October 4, 1948

Pianist/Vocalist/Organist Gary Brunotte performs his own brand of lyrical jazz, influenced by the tradition but in his own personal voice. Born and raised in a small town in Minnesota, he remembers, ��My uncle played accordion, was self-taught and performed in the Navy band. In addition, my stepfather played guitar and my other uncles all played instruments. I started taking accordion lessons when I was nine.�� He debuted as a professional musician at a New Year's Eve job when he was 11, switched to organ and performed with r and b and rock and roll bands as a teenager. ��I discovered jazz after listening to Brasil '66 and Blood, Sweat and Tears