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- 1930 SPECIAL EXCELSIOR ACCORDION GOLD PLUS
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The group covered the Midwest pretty thoroughly for the next three years and in 1944 drums were added to the group for a Sherman Hotel booking in Chicago. The next trio consisted of accordion, vibraphone and bass. Upon return from tour he worked the Chicago Theatre as a soloist.
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Bass and guitar and it played Chicago night spots for about three years, then a big break and joined Ben Bernie band for a two month theatrical tour.
1930 SPECIAL EXCELSIOR ACCORDION GOLD PLUS
This was in his home town theatre, plus two trips to California doing concerts for the Sante Fe Railroad Company.Īt the age of 14 his family moved to Chicago, but it wasn’t until four years later that he turned from classical study and became interested in swing for which he is so well known.
1930 SPECIAL EXCELSIOR ACCORDION GOLD PROFESSIONAL
It was in Norway, Mich, that Art Van Damme was born and it was only 10 years later that he started his professional career as an accordionist. That’s the path taken by Art Van Damme, famed accordionist, whose quintet was fixture at N.B.C. Here is the biography of Art Van Damme and Johnny Smith as printed in the 1980 Coupe Mondiale Program.įrom soloist to trio, trio to quartet to quintet. The Opening Concert was attended by the Prime Minister of New Zealand who opened the event. He and Johnny Smith (and group) played to over 2,000 people in the Auckland Town Hall at the hugely successful Opening and Closing concerts of the 1980 Coupe Mondiale. In 1980, Art Van Damme was the main Guest Artist at the 1980 Coupe Mondiale held in Auckland, New Zealand.
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Clare’s Catholic Church, 1950 Junction Blvd_Roseville, CA 95747 Although he had retired to Arizona then Scaramento, California, he continued to perform nearly to the age of 90.įuneral Mass: 10am, Saturday February 20th 2010 He had three children and six grandchildren. He was 89 years old, and had been ill with pneumonia for several weeks. One musicologist made the following neat comment: “The hippest cat ever to swing an accordion, Art Van Damme dared go where no man had gone before: jazz accordion”.Īrt Van Damme died on February 15th 2010. So influential was Art’s playing style that he has influenced most of the western world’s jazz accordionists. He was constantly in action, developing and honing his skills and repertoire, pioneering the use of the accordion as a jazz lead instrument. In 2005, Art Van Damme, Myron Floren and Dick Contino – three all-American accordion legends – were all honoured at the Las Vegas Accordion Convention, and the following year Art was the chief guest at the ‘Accordions International 2006’ festival, held at Caister, UK.Īrt Van Damme, in his prime years, played so many gigs in clubs, hotels and concert stages across the USA and Europe that it is said that he never needed to do any practice. He also toured in Russia and New Zealand. Van Damme toured Europe and was also popular with jazz listeners in Japan, and regularly won the US ‘Downbeat’ magazine reader's poll for his instrument. He recorded 130 episodes of the 15-minute ‘The Art Van Damme Show’ for NBC Radio, and from the 1940s onwards also enjoyed a successful and extended recording career.
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In 1941 he joined Ben Bernie's band as an accordionist, then from 1945 to 1960 he worked for NBC, performing on ‘The Dinah Shore Show’, ‘Tonight’, ‘The Dave Garroway Show’, and other radio and TV shows with Garroway. There is also an article about his 2005 tour to Rostov-on-Don, Russia onlineĪn interview with Art Van Damme circa 1983Īrt Van Damme (1920-2010), California – USAĪt a recent The Las Vegas International Accordion Conventionīorn April 9th 1920 in Norway, Michigan, and brought up in Chicago, Art Van Damme took up the piano accordion in 1929 at the age of nine, and was classically trained before discovering jazz as a teenager – inspired by the recordings of Benny Goodman. You can read the Art Van Damme 2005 Celebrity Interview at Post your memorial to this great accordion jazz legend Accordion Memorials - great accordion jazz legend Art Van Damme