We are so excited to announce our new project to help you better get to know the performers that will be at the 30th Cotati Accordion Festival! From here until the festival we will be announcing a band/soloist/duo of the month.
May Band
Mad Maggies
Wow! May is happening fast. It’s already time to announce our Band of the Month, The Mad Maggies! (@themadmaggies)
However, when it comes to the Cotati Accordion Festival, the Mad Maggies are much more than a band, as they are part of the foundation that the festival is built on. For years the Mad Maggies have proved to be an upbeat, magical essence of the festival. However, behind the scenes, they have been so much more when it comes to being invaluable to our joyous event. They present the festival on Facebook; they created and manage the tent that artists use to sell their CD’s, and they put in long hours constructing the annual Grand Finale which Maggie has turned into a “not to be missed” tradition. From all of us at the CAF, thank you Maggie Martin and the Mad Maggies.
“The Mad Maggies is a high-energy, danceable, touring band based in Sonoma County, California and Montréal, Québec. Their seriously “genre-fluid” style spans ska, folk rock, California roots, jazz, R&B, klezmer, sea-faring & much more. It’s mostly original, often surprising, always fun. Playing the Cotati Accordion Festival is one of their biggest joys.
“Death” is the Mad Maggies skeleton beanie baby mascot. Look for Death somewhere on the stage whenever the Mad Maggies play
“From the moment they hit the stage, the “dance floor” was swarmed with people dancing and jumping, enjoying the music that can only be described as a cross between the best greasy cheeseburger ever and a highly refined French dining experience. We look forward to having the band back again!” — Kimberly Paternoster, Pt. Richmond Music Festival director
Website: https://themadmaggies.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/squeezindiva
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMadMaggies/
Instagram: instagram.com/themadmaggies/
May Soloist
The Great Morgani
So happy to talk about our Soloist of the month, The Great Morgani!
The Great Morgani is always a crowd favorite, whether he’s on stage as the Masked Player bellowing out a tune, or doing picture taking sessions with families among the booths and walkways. We are never really sure who is really underneath the jaw-dropping costumes, but we trust Morgani to help keep the creativity of our festival alive.
2019 was his 20th year performing at the festival, and we look forward to having him many more years to come!
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT HIS BOOK, “THE CREATIVE MADNESS OF A MIDDLE-AGED STOCKBROKER, TURNED STREET MUSICIAN”.
For Bookings: (831) 423-3800
Email: thegreatmorgani@hotmail.com
April Band
Kugelplex
We are excited to announce Kugelplex as our band of the month! The accordionist for the band, Dan Cantrell played the Cotati Accordion Festival in 2015 and this time he is stepping it up by bringing a klezmer band with him that no music lover should miss, no matter what their genre favorite is.
“Kugelplex is the West Coast’s most rockin’-est purveyor of klezmer and old-world party music. Formed in 2001, the group plays wild, soulful dance music at concerts, festivals and jewish lifecycle events throughout the United States. We’ve performed with Joan Baez, the Oakland Symphony, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and Frank London, Linda Tillery, Jewlia Eisenberg, Nils Frykdahl, Kitka, Rumen Shopov, and many other great artists. Kugelplex has received awards from the Zellerbach Family Foundation and San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music, and has been the klezmer-band-in-residence with the Oakland Symphony for 10+ years. The ensemble features an all-star cast of Bay Area virtuoso musicians. Everyone in the ensemble tours internationally, performs/records with a wide range of bands, and then comes together as Kugelplex to play this music that we so deeply love. It is our mission to keep this old-world klezmer tradition thriving into the 21st century and beyond”
Website: https://www.kugelplex.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/kugelplex52
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kugelplex/
April Soloist
Weronika Sura
We are pleased to announce our soloist of the month for April…. she is coming all the way from Poland, Weronika Sura (@weronika.sura )!
“The artist. The virtuoso of the accordion. Rebellious. Brave. She breaks artistic conventions assigned to her instrument. An unusual personage of the musical young generation of classical artists.
In December 2019 she released her debut solo album “Road to cordoba”. You can buy it on her website at http://weronikasura.pl/en/road-to-cordoba-2/ .
Weronika Sura performs in her country and abroad solo, and with an orchestra or in chamber music group. She has presented her art on the most important stages of concert halls, among others in National Philharmonic in Warsaw, as well as during music festivals and important cultural events in Poland, Italy and Switzerland.
She collaborates with composers of the young generation. Engaged in innovative artistic commercial projects, among others, she collaborated with Radzimir Dębski and Wyborowa brand. Weronika Sura has recorded accordion music for the films and theatrical performances.
Her repertoire is the reflection of her own interests and inspirations of the different cultures of the world, traditional Polish and foreign folk music. She plays classical music of the composers from Spain, Japan, Germany, Argentina, Poland and France.
From the beginning of her musical career, she has been experimenting with the sound of the accordion and accompanying instruments. While creating her own music projects, she combines sounds of different instruments, which are rarely used with accordion, among others: cello, piano, violin, marimba, trumpet, guitar, flugelhorn, Armenian duduk and voice.
Her website: http://weronikasura.pl/en/weronika-sura/
Her facebook fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/weronikasuraakordeon/
Her instagram: @weronika.sura
March Band
Pistoleros Famosos
Pistoleros Famosos is a Norteño band from Santa Rosa, CA. The band has been playing together since 2016, but was started in 2013 by brothers, Edgar (vocals and bass) and Diego (vocals & bajo-quinto). The other two band members, Jovani (drums) and Arsel (accordion), also brothers, later joined. Ever since, they have played in many private parties and in well-known venues throughout California. Their style comes from a mixture of musical influences in Spanish rock, Mariachi, and several other Norteño bands. Their most recent material is an original song, “Sigue Firme Mi Paso”, which has been recently studio recorded and will be released soon.
Instagram & Facebook: @pistolerosfamososoficial
Live performance, “Sigue Firme Mi Paso”:
March Duo
Nathan & Jessie
From the city where they sun shines through the mist, Temecula, California, comes the jazzy folk duo Nathan & Jessie. Born of the individuals, Nathan Rivera and Jessie Andra Smith, this duo is a unique blend of jazzy folk and blues on resonator guitars and accordion, along with interesting interplay between male and female vocals.
Their performances not only include unique all original music, but stories of their travels and interaction with the audience that make for an unforgettable experience. Love of sharing music has taken Nathan & Jessie all over the world, frequenting places like Mexico, Canada, France, New Orleans, and the Pacific Northwest.
The upbeat tunes they write reflect the cultural, emotional, and inspirational images of their life experience and are rooted in the spirit of jazz, improvisation, storytelling, language, and humor.
Video Link: https://youtu.be/CIW-LR-xOos?t=1535
Nathan & JessieEPK: https://www.nathanandjessie.com/booking
Instagram: www.instagram.com/nathanandjessiemusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nathanandjessie/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4aPEMEsDRvBrj6nZLGlAIn
February Band
Mark St. Mary
We are pleased to announce a truly deserving Band of the month, Mark St. Mary! Mark St. Mary has been with the festival for over 15 years now, and we are more than excited to have him continue to perform at the 30th Cotati Accordion Festival! Mark St. Mary will be playing at Friar Tucks Zydeco stage. Friar Tucks is one of our 6 stages at the festival, don’t forget to come by for a dance! “Mark St. Mary’s family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area around 1960 in search of “better money” and greater freedom. The hardworking Mark St. Mary Louisiana Blues & Zydeco Band has been a favorite of Cajun/Zydeco festival crowds for years. St. Mary and company were voted the best zydeco band of 2007 by the Bay Area Blues Society. Mark St. Mary began playing accordion when he was 12, and started playing professionally at the age of 15. Inspired and mentored over the years by the “King of Zydeco” Clifton Chenier. Singing in English and Creole French, Mark St. Mary leads his band through original songs including “St. Mary Special” and “Moi Seado (My Syrup),” interspersed with dance floor favorites from Chenier’s “I’m Coming Home” and the classic Harry Choates version of “Jolie Blon” to Rockin Sidney’s “Don’t Mess with My Toot Toot.” Today Mark St. Mary lives in Antelope, CA and has been crowned the “Delta King”, a title he received at The Isleton Crawdad Festival. He plays a bluesy zydeco style influenced by accordionist Clifton Chenier. Depending on the venue, he might play pure zydeco, mixed with some double pump. Don’t be surprised to see him pull out the little squeeze box and play his favorite Cajun tunes. Mark likes to observe the dancers and see what they like and he might “cut loose,” throwing in with some down home Blues “a little R&B and Country and a little down- and-dirty belly rubbing. He’s versatile that way and one thing is for sure, You will never get bored with Mark holding that accordion.” https://www.markstmarylouisianabluesandzydeco.com/
February Soloist
Cory Pesaturo
We are pleased to announce our soloist of the month for February….
Cory Pesaturo (@cpez)! Our soloist of the month is Cory “C-Pez” Pesaturo . Cory is a revolutionary in the accordion world. We feel that he is the greatest jazz accordionist in America, while being the Cotati Accordion Festival’s most influential ambassador around the world. You can see him on our stages both days at this year’s festival this August 22 & 23!
http://www.corypesaturo.com “Cory Pesaturo (“C Pez”) is at the forefront of the accordion world, pushing the boundaries on multiple fronts of what is possible with the accordion. The only person to ever win the trio of World Championships on Acoustic, Digital & Jazz Accordion, and the only accordion graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. In 2017, Pesaturo became a Guinness World Record Holder, as RedBull® flew him to Austria to break the Marathon Accordion Record, in which Cory played for over 32 hours. Cory’s main contribution is his visionary thinking of how the accordion should be used, played, taught, and presented in modern music. He has given 2 TED Talk’s and 2 Google Talk’s about this, which are currently the only TED or Google talks in the world about the accordion. Pesaturo is also developing his own electric accordion, and already has made the first-ever skinned accordion which includes a symmetric lighting system attached to the keys.”
December Band –
Those Darn Accordions!
For our first band of the month, there’s no better fit than Those Darn Accordions!
TDA was a revolutionary group when they first started. They would go around SF stopping in restaurants unannounced and start playing their rocking accordions to startled patrons. They eventually developed their own “wall of sound”, featuring four or five accordionists along the front line. They played the first three years in a row when the festival first began and have been an integral part of the festival ever since. They are part of the uniqueness of the festival where you could listen to the legendary art van dame one moment, and then Led Zeppelin’s stairway to heaven the next.
Paul Rogers is the heart and soul of Those Darn Accordions and he keeps innovating year in and year out with more surprises from his surprising band! Excited to see what they bring to the festival this year!!
Pictured in the first photos is left to right: Suzanne Garramone, @progersw, Carri Abrahms, @shuttupian, Susie Davis, @lewismwallace
Also, be sure to check out their website at thosedarnaccordions.com
