If you’ve ever wanted to hear traditional European songs performed on accordion, a pair of local musicians have you covered.
Starting March 5, accordion player Chuck Osborn and singer Gale McNeeley will perform a series of intimate shows on the Central Coast as part of their One World, One Heart—A Celebration of the Music and Peoples of the World tour. Four dates are currently scheduled, with performances in Santa Maria, Los Olivos, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara.
The show features songs from all over the world, including the Czech song “Beer Barrel Polka,” Mexico’s “Cielito Lindo,” the Russian song “Those Were the Days,” Naples’ “Funiculi Funicula,” and the Israeli song “Hava Nagila.” According to a press release, the duo describes the music as “the antidote we need for the time in which we live.”
Osborn, who is the director of the Allan Hancock College Jazz Band, said the tour is about presenting music that people are familiar with. He said the show is simple and scaled down.
“It’s probably going to be very exciting musically,” he said. “We don’t have a full orchestra or special lighting. It’s a small show, with just two guys, and I’m the only musician.”
Osborn said the song selections were inspired by McNeeley’s recent trip to Europe. McNeeley began singing as a child soprano at his church in the 1950s and has performed in the Navy Blue Jacket Choir, at various cabarets in New York City, and on Broadway.
“It was his idea,” said Osborn, who also performs with his Trio Internationale group. “He was over there, reliving these songs. He said he would like to do that for us.”
As for keeping it small, Osborn said it’s a benefit to the audience.
“The bigger scale requires a lot more rehearsal time, with more people and more complications,” he said. “This show is presented in a homespun fashion.”
One of the highlights of the performance is a German song, “Muss I Denn,” once performed by Elvis Presley, Osborn said.
As for the appeal of older songs, he said that their familiarity never really goes away. He said young people, especially the students he teaches and directs at Hancock, do connect with classic music from past decades.
“My own mother and father used to sing around the house,” he said. “I didn’t know how to classify music until many years later when I found out about those things.”
Contact Arts and Lifestyle Writer Rebecca Rose at rrose@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 2-9, 2017.