Decades of Devotion Squeezed Into Three Days

Christina Busso, a lawyer in the nation’s capital, does not make a habit of advertising her lifelong hobby. On the rare occasions when she does confess that she has played the accordion since before she was old enough for kindergarten, the typical reaction is: “You do what?”

But for three days last week in this city just south of Boston, Busso, 26, did not have to withstand guffaws or stares of disbelief. Along with her father and brother -- both professional accordionists -- Busso and close to 500 other members of the American Accordionists’ Assn. converged to celebrate a musical instrument that even its most ardent devotees agree suffers from a serious lack of respect.

“When the accordion was in its heyday, there were just too many bad players,” Frank Busso, 61, said as he and his children wrapped up a Beethoven trio. “The bad players gave us all a bad name.”

For an instrument that traces its origins back 3,000 years -- when a Chinese emperor challenged a scholar to create a device that would mimic the sound of a phoenix -- this was a sad turn of events.

With its myriad ethnic interpretations, the accordion was wildly popular for generations, in part because a single player could make enough noise to entertain an entire dance hall. Few other instruments could compete. Then amplification came along, and even that distinction disappeared.

Vaudeville had made the accordion synonymous with slapstick humor. And the foot-stomping polka would scarcely exist without the accordion.

As an accompaniment for vocalists, the instrument lost out to guitars when rock ‘n’ roll trampled the saccharine sounds of earlier eras. “The Lawrence Welk Show” cemented the instrument’s association with hopelessly square entertainment.

The goofy reputation persists: “I saw an ad in the Boston yellow pages just this week for a juggling clown who sings, dances and plays the accordion,” Frank Busso said, grimacing.

Nevertheless, said Frank Busso Jr., 24, it all comes down to happy music: “It’s hard not to have a smile on your face when you hear the accordion.”

Indeed, the Marriott hotel here was a veritable grin factory as musicians of many ages, sizes and shapes traipsed the hallways, lugging accordions in hard-sided suitcases perched on foldable luggage carriers. Adult-sized accordions weigh 18 to 26 pounds and cost about $6,000 each -- sometimes more.

The best part of playing the accordion, said Domenic Paolo of North Providence., R.I., is “having fun.” Domenic, 8, said playing the accordion was just as much fun as being a hockey goalie, his other favorite pastime. But he said he doesn’t tell his hockey friends about his musical life.

“They maybe would laugh,” he said.

Kara DiPaola, 15, of West Warwick, R.I., called playing the accordion “kind of a distraction from all the serious issues in the world. It puts everything in perspective.” At her high school, she said, “a bunch of people think it’s really geeky. But others think it’s cool.”

Giovanni Delazerda of Cranston, R.I., said what he liked best about the accordion was “the weird way it has of getting the sounds out. You have to push in and pull out. It’s weird, because it has kind of like a built-in piano inside.”

Although at 13 he is too young to join the military, Giovanni said he would one day consider auditioning for the Strolling Strings, an Air Force ensemble that includes an accordion player. A Strolling Strings representative spent a day scouting the festival -- talking to Frank Busso Jr., among other prospective performers.

“I’m definitely interested,” Busso said. “You get to play at the White House, you get to travel a lot, and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t send an accordion player to Iraq.”

(The list of retired soldiers that the Pentagon recently announced it was pressing into service in Iraq did include two trumpeters, one trombonist, four clarinetists, three saxophone players, an electric bass player and a euphonium player.)

In the hallway outside the ballroom where young accordion players were competing, Jay Todd of Holladay, Utah, was staffing a booth selling homemade CDs made by dozens of musicians, including his wife, Janet.

“The accordion is a maverick instrument, a folk instrument,” he said. “It is said to be the most widely played instrument in the world, simply because of its huge ethnic applications.”

Todd conceded that the accordion did not necessarily claim the high esteem of other musical instruments.

“But if you walked around here these last three days, it’s just incredible,” he said. “These young musicians are buoyant. They’re enthused. These kids are not on drugs. They are not into the negative aspects of life. They are still captivated by learning music.

“And the adults, oh my goodness,” Todd said. “Apparently when people start to play the accordion, they gain an attachment which they never lose. It’s like a lifelong love affair.”

On Sept. 4, Christina Busso will be married on Staten Island, N.Y., where her father learned to play the accordion when he was 7, and where for many years he has run an accordion school. Will she walk down the aisle to Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” played on the accordion?

Busso smiled: “There’s been talk about it.”