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Alice Hall

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File:Alice Hall.jpg
Alice Hall with her "finto piano" chromatic button accordion

Jazz accordionist Alice Hall was born Alice Marie Laquiere in Brussels, Belgium. She was raised in Detroit, Michigan after her family emigrated. Her father was a musician and taught Alice drums and accordion so she could accompany him on stage.[1] She played European-style chromatic button accordion with a “finto-piano” (false piano) keyboard similar to that used by vaudeville accordionist Pietro Frosini and later jazz accordionist Leon Sash.

She began working professionally at age 13 on radio in Detroit. To ensure she had places to perform, her father opened his own bar, the Blue Star, where he could watch over her. She started a combo with her sister Rachel playing drums and accordion.[2] During World War II they were advertised as “2 Boys, 2 Girls, Sax, Piano, Accordion, drums.”[3]

Benny Goodman invited her to join him on tour but the club owner where she was playing wouldn’t release her contract. She declined when Jack Teagarden asked her to join his orchestra, explaining later, “Playing with a big band, you know how many chances you get to play sixteen bars of something or eight bars of something and that’s it? You know, there’s nothing there…. I wanted to prove that something can be done on this instrument, other than playing just the ordinary, ‘Jolly Caballero’ stuff, you know?”[4]

Hall left only minimal recordings, saying in a 1997 NPR interview that she had been “too busy gigging to record much.”[5] She signed with Capitol in 1948[6] Her recording was delayed by the 1948 Musicians Union recording strike. (Followup to the larger 1942–44 musicians' strike.) She released only one known commercial disk, “Pennies from Heaven” / “Caravan” on Capitol records in 1949.[7] A copy of her 78 is in the holdings of a Swedish accordion (“dragspel”) museum.[8] Hall later taped several demos and in live settings and these rough recordings were self-released in the 1990s.[9]

In the 1970s Hall dropped out of music and checked herself into a mental institution for depression. Ten years later she returned to find accordions had become unpopular. She spent the rest of her life dedicated to the instrument and supporting other accordion artists.[10] She published the Friends of the Accordion newsletter in Los Angeles.[11]

When she died in 2000 her 1949 record had not been reissued.[12] But she had gained attention after inclusion in the 1995 Planet Squeezebox compilation, which included a live version of her "Pennies from Heaven" taken from her self released archival recordings.[13]


References

  1. ^ Billard, François (1991). Histoires de l'accordéon. Castelnau-le-Lez, Paris: Climats, Institut national de l'audiovisuel. p. 329. ISBN 2907563408.
  2. ^ Billard, François (1991). Histoires de l'accordéon. Castelnau-le-Lez, Paris: Climats, Institut national de l'audiovisuel. p. 329. ISBN 2907563408.
  3. ^ "Alice Hall's Quartette" (Magazine). Billboard Music Yearbook. 1943. pp. 164, 195, 198. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  4. ^ Hall, Alice; Olsher, Dean. "Dean Olsher talks with Alice Hall". NPR (National Public Radio). Morning Edition. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  5. ^ Shapiro, Michal, ed. (1995). Planet Squeezebox: Accordion Music from Around the World. Roslyn, NY: Ellipsis Arts. pp. 22–23, 25. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
  6. ^ "Alice Hall Trio, B. Allen Ork May Ink Capital Pact". Billboard. Cincinnati: The Billboard Publishing Company. 1948-04-24. p. 37. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Capitol Records C 57-60007". Discogs. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  8. ^ Hall (The Alice Hall Trio), Alice. "Låtlista sorterad efter artist (List sorted by artist)". Skivbutiken (“Record Store). dragspelsexpo.com (Swedish Accordion Museum). Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  9. ^ Hall, Alice (1996). "The Alice Hall Sound". The Guido Deiro Archive: Recordings, Audio-Cassettes. New York. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
  10. ^ Hall, Alice; Olsher, Dean. "Dean Olsher talks with Alice Hall". NPR (National Public Radio). Morning Edition. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  11. ^ Shapiro, Michal, ed. (1995). Planet Squeezebox: Accordion Music from Around the World. Roslyn, NY: Ellipsis Arts. pp. 22–23, 25. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
  12. ^ "Queen of Jazz Accordion Passes Away". The Squeeze. Accordions Worldwide. 2000-06-30. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  13. ^ Shapiro, Michal, ed. (1995). Planet Squeezebox: Accordion Music from Around the World. Roslyn, NY: Ellipsis Arts. pp. 22–23, 25. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
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