He was only six, back in 1948, when his uncle first presented him with the Austrian diatonic accordion. Soon he began picking up tunes by ear. Soccer has been Alex Neuman's hobby, however, when he received his first chromatic accordion at the age of fifteen, he drops the sports and starts taking the chromatic accordion evening courses, studying Russian and Ukrainian ethnic music as well as some classical music and chromatic accordion arrangements.  In 1957-1958 Alex Neuman starts to listen to Yves Montand, Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet and a variety of other French Chanson singers, at the same time paying a great deal of attention to the style of the accompanying accordionists. From behind the Iron Curtain, he had the chance to listen occasionally on the radio to Andre Verchuren, Aimable, Jo Privat, Maurice Lacrange, Gus Viseur and many others. Since Alex Neuman was 11, he has also played in the brass marching band, however accordion remains his passion.  In 1968 Alex graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Culture, working since then as the accompanist of vocal and dance groups, while improving his accordion playing. Since 1957, Alex Neuman began collecting accordion recordings (vinyl LP disks then), however it was very difficult to buy in the former Soviet Union, any recording of a European or American accordionist. This passion for accordion and recordings (in addition to playing musette on B-system chromatic accordion) has continued until today.  Alex Neuman and his friend Mark Greenberg In 1997 Alex Neuman relocated to Israel, where the conditions for expanding his collection are much more favorable. Using the Internet and acquainting himself with the people sharing similar enthusiasm, enabled Alex to form a sizeable collection of accordion recordings. In 2002 Alex opens in his home, the Accordeon Jazz Salon, where everyone is welcome - both the musicians and the amateurs, interested in this style of music. The purpose of the collection is Jazz / Accordion, and the whole salon is designed to reflect this theme. The salon features over 5,000 live performances on CD and DVD as well as specific literature for Jazz / Accordion. In November 2014, Alex Neuman was invited by the Mengascini Nello factory to give a masterclass in French musette. Alex plays a Mengascini Paris Musette accordion. Alex Neuman loves to receive guests at his Accordeon Jazz Salon and he can be contacted at: Skype: alex66n Email: aneuman@yandex.ru Phone: +972-48665536 |
