Suggested listening when you’re studying jazz accordion

(Last updated Sep 25, 2024. I’ll try to make this an always updated post.)

Listening a ton is really important

If you were taking a French class, we would expect you to be watching movies and T.V. in French and listening to French language music – it is a vital compliment to study and exercises.

The same is true for any musical genre you’re working on. If you wanted to dig into Irish accordion music, then you should be making playlists of Irish accordion music, from the originators to the modern stuff. And you should be finding the stuff you like more than others – and getting to know inside of Irish accordion music what periods, styles, players, give you the most pleasure and thrill.

And so the same is true for jazz accordion music. I invite you to contribute to this post by commenting with some of your own links to cool stuff that’s not on my list.

Please consider making ways in your life that you can immerse yourself as background music with these jazz recordings (or other jazz that you love or are curious about.)

I’m going to focus on YouTube links here – but most of these artists have records out and are available to listen to on streaming music services.

Accordionists who play great jazz

Frank Marocco

In my humble opinion, Frank Marocco is the greatest jazz accordion player of all time. He had all the stuff: both hands, harmony, improv/bebop vocabulary, great time feel, just a joyous beautiul feeling from his music, and he composed a ton of his own melodies.

Here is a playlist of three 1-hour long concerts from the 1990s, at the Seattle Accordion Club. Frank plays solo for most of the concert, and then a fre tunes duo at the end of the concert.

Frank plays so many amazing tunes from the Great American Songbook, and the standard jazz repertoire.

I find it particularly helpful how he makes his accompaniment with the jazz march bass+quarter notes in his left hand, and bass lines (usually with right hand chords on top). But everything he does is perfect and beautiful and magic.

Playlist of three 1-hour Frank Marocco solo concerts

Joe Mooney

Joe Mooney’s music is incredible – the worst thing you could say is that he’s doing Nat King Cole on the accordion, and super super well.

The only Joe Mooney music I know is on the records that he made that have been re-released in the digital age.

I love Joe Mooney for the feel, the chord voicings, the phrasing, the emotional statements. And the playful and joyful spirit.

Playlist of Joe Mooney on accordion