Sponsors
Books (Text)
eSheet (pdf file)
eTracks sound files
Sponsors
Free Services
Books (Text)
Statistics
Sponsors
分享08-Sep-2023
by Tracey Collins
|
 |
  Report by professional accordionist Tracey Collins (picture above) about her trip to California: I was invited to headline at the 32nd Cotati Accordion Festival in Cotati, California, USA on August 19th and 20th. It was excellent to finally perform in person as I was unable to attend due to the 2020 lockdown, however, I still managed to perform online. Scott Goree (Executive Director) and Cory Pesaturo, a great friend whom I had met in Auckland, New Zealand at the Coupe Mondiale in 2009 made all this happen. Following my flight, it was a long 2.5 hour wait at customs and Cory Pesaturo was kind enough to pick me up at the airport. We had just enough time for a little tour of San Francisco, then we went to visit Steve Albini at his gig. Steve Albini kindly loaned me his Petosa accordion over the weekend. I had never played this model before so was a little nervous at first about performing with it (like driving a new car!). Every year Cory Pesaturo is invited to do a pre-festival performance for a lovely bunch of locals, so I managed to give it a test run there. Cory also performing with his very talented friend Yasmine Azaiez on violin. An excellent first day/night before the festival even started! I performed two sets over two days at the Cotati Festival which went super well and was a lot of fun. The audience was very receptive and really love and appreciate the accordion! Cory and I managed to perform a couple of duets during each of our sets. We played Volare and La Cumpersita (picture above left). Every year they present an Honorary Director for the festival and this year it was Frank Lima “The Great Morgani”, who has since retired but it was a nice acknowledgment for his contribution to the accordion world. There were many excellent performers at this year’s festival – Erica Mancini, Foleada Forro, Those Darn Accordions, Elena Stenkina to name a few, showcasing the diverse range of genres you can play on an accordion. On Sunday August 20th, we had the finale show and many of the performers all got together to perform, a great way to end the festival (picture below). The whole Cotati team were so organized and the festival ran super smoothly. They certainly made you really feel a part of the community, for this very special event. Following the festival, Cory, myself, Elena, and Yasmine along with 3 x instruments and luggage crammed ourselves in the hire car enroute towards LA. We couldn’t take the coastal route due to flooding, so the only other alternative was one loooong straight road! But thanks to good music, banter and roadside Pistachios, Fresh Strawberries and Garlic Ice Cream, we made it in 12 hours to stay with Liz Finch who was so lovely and accommodated us over the next few days. Tuesday night, August 22nd, Cory arranged a house concert at his friend Leah Zeger’s place (another very talented violinist). We were surrounded by an amazingly talented group of artists and supporters and were lucky enough to perform and jam with everyone. It was a superb night! Wednesday 23rd, was our last night in LA and Cory surprised Elena and I with tickets to see Herbie Hancock at the Hollywood Bowl which was terrific. Joni Mitchell, Santana also made guest appearances. I enjoyed a fantastic trip and I wish to extend a big thanks to Cory for being a terrific tour guide and host and to Scott Goree and the team for arranging my Cotati performances. |
 |