How The Bay Area Accordion Club Began

The Bay Area Accordion Club

(now called The San Francisco Accordion Club)

How It All Began

by Jim Holliday

  It all began in early 1989 when a San Francisco woman named Big Lou joined up with several other players to form a group known as Those Darn Accordions. A charter member was Tom Torriglia and he became their spokesman and publicist. Always looking for ways to get publicity for the accordion in general and Those Darn Accordions in particular, Tom and the group occasionally resorted to some attention grabbing stunts. This included Accordionista Raids, wherein small, uninvited groups of players, accordions ready, stormed into North Beach restaurants and bellowed the diners into pleasant submission. Also, he organized a Lady-of-Spain-athon during which the hardy participants performed our love/hate anthem for ten hours straight. The desired results were achieved when local newspapers reported these events in featured articles.

It was as happy an idea as when Mickey Rooney told Judy Garland, “We ought to put on a show.”

It came to pass that Those Darn Accordions played at a rally supporting a new ballpark for the Giants. Tom got into a conversation with Willie Kennedy, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and mentioned to her his group’s desire to have the accordion declared the Official Instrument of San Francisco. Willie liked the idea and agreed to officially sponsor it if Tom would supply documentation to support and justify the action. Tom complied by presenting her with abundant and well-researched material from San Francisco’s accordion-rich past and Willie Kennedy made the official presentation and motion to the Board of Supervisors in January of 1990.

Shortly thereafter an article in the San Francisco Chronicle mentioned an upcoming Board of Supervisors open meeting at City Hall regarding the Official Instrument question and invited any interested members of the public (pro & con) to speak on the subject. About a dozen people, mostly complete strangers, showed up and addressed the Board. Almost all were pro-accordion and at the conclusion of our business we band of brothers and sisters filed out of chambers into the rotunda for a post mortem.

Most left after a few minutes, but five people hung onto the moment unwilling to let the chance of speaking and sharing thoughts about the accordion slip away. After all, there seemed to be an instant bond between us. The five people were: Rusty Bartoli, Jim Holliday, Dominic Palmisano, Lou Soper and Walter Traverso.

The Founders: Dominic Palmisano, Jim Holliday, Lou Soper, Walter Traverso and Rusty Bartoli.

After awhile Walter Traverso said, “Let’s all go to my house. I’d like you to see and try out a new Midi accordion I just bought and we can talk some more.” And so we did. During the next two hours of camaraderie the thought emerged spontaneously, “We ought to start an accordion club.” It was as happy an idea as when Mickey Rooney told Judy Garland, “We ought to put on a show.” We all jumped at the idea and decided to find a meeting place right away. The first-ever meeting of the club took place on May 7, 1990 at Woodlake Joe’s in San Mateo with 25 people in attendance. One of the first pieces of business was to decide a name for the group and the Bay Area Accordion Club was thus born.

So, lift your accordions in a rousing toast and a Happy Birthday, BAAC is ten years old. Here’s to a wonderful club. We salute all those past and present who have made it the great organization it is. Let us thank one and all who do the necessary work to keep it going: the entertainers, the officers, the volunteers, the financial supporters and our faithful members who come and cheer us on with enthusiasm and affection.

The matter of the Official Instrument played out this way. At a final meeting held early in 1990 the Supes were required to vote yea or nay. Despite some strong objections from Angela Alioto on behalf of the violin (an outrageous thought, but her dad Joe played it) the yeas won the day and our creature found its hearth in San Francisco.

The passed resolution went from the Supervisors to the desk of then Mayor Art Agnos for his signature. For some reason that neither Plato nor Aristotle could have figured out, he considered the matter too politically sensitive to act upon and did nothing. But there are divine agents who hover over the accordion and the City Charter provides that when a passed resolution from the Board of Supervisors is not signed, amended or withdrawn, it becomes the law twelve months later! Therefore, in the eyes of God, the country and the City the accordion automatically became the Official Instrument of San Francisco in January of 1991.