Dominic Cortese Accordion [1961]

Time Records Series 2000 S/2029

The discovery of Dominic Cortese, known in the early days of his career as just Dom Cortese, is the discovery of the missing link between Elvis Presley and Steve Lacy. The concept of a first-call session artist who has done so many recording sessions he admits he can't remember what half of them were, is thrilling to be sure. Does he remember working with Bob Dylan? Like, what about the weird recording session involving Dylan with Emmylou Harris singing backup, Eric Clapton picking lead guitar, and oddball instrument inventor Vincent Bell chiming in on his "bellzouki?" Does he remember that? Does he remember the really beautiful jazz album swing jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli put together for the Telarc label, the one with several arrangements showcasing Cortese's accordion versatility? Certainly, he must remember the recording sessions for the Cher/Nicholas Cage romantic vehicle Moonstruck. That was when he played so beautifully that the contractor fired the entire orchestra and redid the track as an accordion solo. 

Cortese first began recording during the height of the so-called "hi-fi" era in the '60s. With happy consumers hovering around their new stereo systems and seeking more and more vivid music to try out, there was certainly a demand for instrumentalists willing to record sessions with exotic, enticing, or romantic themes of one kind or another. All in all, a job fit for an accordion. Cortese became known as the quintessential Italian accordion player through a series of recordings for the Time and Command labels, such as Accordion Magic, Accordion Italy, and Accordion Continental. Not all of the music was about swooning from the side of a gondola, as he also enjoyed playing in several groups that seemed more inspired by zany artists such as Spike Jones and Raymond Scott, both of whom were also working in full capacity for the hi-fi buffs. In Tito and His Swingtet, Cortese got to wiggle his fingers through madcap tunes such as the immortal "Nightmare of a Termite." One album from the period that accordion fans are known to arm wrestle each other for is the classy All Accordion Band on Time, in which Cortese and three of his favorite fellow accordion masters go wild in the absence of any other instruments to restrain them.

Although the next few decades would usher in changes in the music industry and public taste that would render this wave of hi-fi instrumental novelties the equivalent of yesterday's newspapers, Cortese totally avoided the obscurity and unemployment that hounded many of his peers. He became a first-call session player who was more and more in demand whenever a top artist decided they had to have an accordion. Which, of course, most of them seem to at one point or another judging from the discography below. There are, of course, some heavy duty credits, such as Bob Dylan's Desire, a half-dozen Billy Joel albums, the Elvis Viva Las Vegas soundtrack, and the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. Of interest to listeners with sophisticated taste might be the fascinating Helen Merrill album Jelena Ana Milcevic, an exploration of this vocalist's Croatian roots that includes not only traditional musicians from that land but jazz artists of the caliber of soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy and pianist Sir Roland Hanna.

The busy accordion man also has some film credits, although none where he is seen with his instrument strung around his neck. He appears on screen in Moonstruck, and has a cameo in the Tim Robbins film The Cradle Rocks as a character called "beaver accordion accompanist."

Tracklist:
01 Lazzarella
02 O Marenariello
03 Pizza Polka
04 Zingana
05 Che Lla Lla
06 Theme From La Strada
07 Vivacita Polka
08 When You Look At Me
09 Tango della Gelosia
10 'Na Voce 'Na Chitarra
11 Piemonte Waltz
12 Elvia Waltz

Arranged and Conducted by Al Caiola