Reminded of Joe Maggiolo by Phil's recent post, I'll clarify some words handwritten in the upper right corner of La Capricciosa Polka, which appears in Volume 1. What's there is "St. Raphael's Social Hall," and what it refers to was a practice session for Joe's accordion band, made up of about 20 or 30 of his students sometime during the late 1950s.
Yes, accordion bands were around and prospering in those days in San Rafael, and in the handwriting that is just off the page as xeroxed for the book, it notes the date was "May 5th." At the top of the right-hand corner, the piece we evidently were playing is listed: "Carnival of Venice."
Must have been something...
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2 comments:
Bob,
I wonder if you recall Joe breaking a finger in his hand. I went to a lesson one day and there is Joe with his hand wrapped up. I asked him what happened! He said he had lived his whole life, including playing football in highschool and had never hurt either hand, but the previous week he had gotten frustrated with a student's lack of progress and in a fit of anger slammed his hand down on his music stand!
Amusing stories from yesteryear eh?
Phil V.
Phil, I recall him wearing something on his wrist one time, perhaps for a sprain of some sort, but not a broken finger.
I can assure you that, while he might have been frustrated occasionally by my not having practiced during a preceding week, he didn't break his finger on my account.
In fact, it was Joe who got me my first paying jobs and, surprisingly, counseled me in what to watch out for in those venues.
On a serious note, Ed also has always had the highest regard for Joe, but, as he puts it, Joe never had the personality of the performer. He was a terrific organizer of bands, a wonderful player as you know, and a surprisingly well-rounded player in terms of the rhythms, genres, and so on that he had mastered. But I guess I agree with Ed, that, on a stage, Joe must have come off on the quiet side.
His teaching in his little studio on Second Street was the perfect niche.
Good note, and please share more about Joe and about any of the 'classics.'
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