The Hot Frittatas

The Hot Frittatas is Northern California’s newest ensemble for European musette-style dance music. A trio of accordion, mandolin/fiddle, and guitar, they were featured at the 1999 and 2000 Santa Rosa Festa Italiana, sponsored by the Northern California Italian American Cultural Association. They have played at the Caffé Trieste in San Francisco, the Rose Pub and A’Roma Roasters Café in Santa Rosa, Murphy’s Irish Pub in Sonoma, as well as numerous wineries, restaurants, coffee houses and private corporate events in the Sonoma Valley, Napa Valley, and the Bay Area. In addition to the traditional Ballo Liscio style of Italian music, they are equally adept at French Café music, Russian and Eastern European music, German Oktoberfest music, and Latin American tango and choro music. With just a little encouragement, they can easily launch into Cajun and Zydeco styles as well. Their first CD, Caffe Liscio, will be released in April, 2001.

Gus Garelick (violin and mandolin) Gus discovered the mandolin during college and taught himself to play from an old Italian method book, his first introduction to the Ballo Liscio style of Italian dance music. Eventually, he started playing Bluegrass music, and turned his attention to American fiddle styles: Bluegrass, Western Swing, Cajun, blues and jazz. He is also a radio programmer at KRCB Radio in Santa Rosa, where he hosts The Fiddlin Zone twice a month.

Dennis Hadley (accordion) Dennis began playing accordion as a child in San Leandro, California, studying polkas and waltzes of the great Frankie Yankovic. He still likes Yankovic, by the way, but with a touch of Clifton Chenier and maybe a little Italian flavor.

Don Coffin (guitar, mandolin) Don has been performing music for international audiences for over 30 years. From 1971 to 1978, he recorded and toured with his wife, song writer Kate Wolf. He also traveled through Europe with The Eclecticatz, an acoustic trio playing everything from Celtic tunes to Country Swing.