A Salute to ART VAN DAMME "Keep Swingin"

"Brian…its noontime on Saturday as I’m listening to your latest C.D… I was just wanting to let you know I got the C.D… and really get a kick out of it!!! I enjoy it very much… I especially get a kick out of what you did with "Cherokee." You should be very, very proud!!!"

Art Van Damme (July 2001)

"To me this album is a culmination and successful completion of what Brian Erickson has always wanted to do with the concertina. Brian mastered the technicalities of the concertina at a very young age… all by himself… In his early teens he was bit by "The Art Van Damme bug"… and having already invested a lot of timein his chosen musical instrument… the concertina… he wanted to do something similar with the concertina that Art Van Damme did with the accordion. Brian studied music theory on his own and also with the likes of Dave Remington and most especially the great jazz clarinetist Don Chesebro… learning all he could about chord substitutions, tri-tones, harmonies, related-theory, etc… After listening to his album… I think Brian must have invented a few tricks of his own. When Brian plays the concertina with his feel for jazz and his uncanny use of the bellows… this instrument becomes something totally different… IT SWINGS!!! Just as the great Art Van Damme turned his chosen instrument (the accordion) into a magnificent jazz force!…"

Likewise

"Brian Erickson also has taken his musical instrument (the concertina) and demonstrated its capabilities in the world of jazz as well."

Casey Szewczyk (August 2001)
(Writer for “The Chicagoland Jazz Journal”
and president of C.Casey Entertainers of Chicago, Ill., USA)

Pictured above (left to right) Art Van Damme, Freddie Rundquist (Art’s Guitarist) & Brian Erickson having a drink together after one of Art’s gigs at the "Jazz Corner" in Hilton Head, North Carolina, USA.

Track Listing:
1. Cherokee
2. Ode To A Cleavage Or The Camel
3. Theme From Batman (1960’s T.V. Series)
4. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
5. How Insensitive
6. Ecstasy
7. Lover
8. Danke Schöen
9. I Dream Of Jeannie
10. Avalon

Cool Concertina

COOL CONCERTINA is a compilation of many jazz standards that Brian Erickson and his ensemble recorded in various studios across the United States,Canada and Europe.

Brian Erickson’s creative efforts have completed the unorthodox challenge of playing the concertina in a jazz setting, which, until Brian came along had been unfamiliar to this musical instrument. On certain cuts ( “Air Mail Special” being one of them) Brian overdubs with additional concertina parts in order to demonstrate the possibilities of a concertina “Big Band.”

The fine rhythm section consists of Brian Benson (formerly of Chicago and one of the most sought after bass players in the international jazz scene.) And Dane Richeson (drums) a first class drummer and also percussion instructor/professor at Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, USA.

Brian also features on “Limehouse Blues” and “Sweet Georgia Brown” one of the most revered jazz clarinetists of the Midwest…the incomparable Don Chesebro!

In COOL CONCERTINA Brian Erickson exploits some of the unique tricks and interesting sounds on the concertina (which he created) and proves that the Chemnitzer Concertina can actually swing!!!

Track Listing:
1. Take the A Train
2. Cherokee
3. April in Paris
4. Lover
5. Night and Day
6. Swingin’ Shepard Blues
7. The Song is You
8. Where or When
9. Opus #1
10. Deep Purple
11. That’s A Plenty
12. Misty
13. Caravan
14. Limehouse blues
15. Satin Doll
16. Sweet Georgia Brown
17. Wave
18. Tangerine
19. Pennies From Heaven
20. Honeysuckle Rose
21. Air Mail Special
22. Polka Dots and Moonbeams
23. Woodchopper’s Ball

Polkas by Erickson

Although Brian Erickson is known worldwide as “Mr. Jazz Concertina,” he did (as has been the case with many squeezebox players) start out playing mainly polkas and in fact, has been playing polka gigs for over 30 years.

“Polkas by Erickson” is a collection of the many polkas Brian has recorded in the past 20 years.

Some of the polkas on this album reveal Brian’s jazz influence… but all of the polkas on this album demonstrate Brian’s own unique and superb polka style!

Track Listing:
1. The Wine Jug Polka
2. Woodpecker Song
3. Try Again Polka
4. Sharpshooter’s March
5. Clarinet Polka
6. Low Down Polka
7. Emilia Polka
8. Champagne Polka
9. Laughing Polka
10. Happy Wanderer
11. La Paloma Blanca
12. Dopey
13. Continental Polka
14. Tick Tock Polka
15. Hundred Devils Polka
16. Squeeze Box Polka
17. Helena Polka
18. Laus Buben Polka
19. Maria Polka
20. Showtime Polka
21. Barbara Polka
22. Babette Polka

Swinging Concertina

A very exciting DVD! See and hear what a “wildman” Brian is on the concertina. Also featured… the incomparable Robert Junceau II on keyboard and drummer … Rand Moore (of “Drums n’ Moore” Fame!)

Track Listing:
1. Pennies From Heaven
2. C-jam Blues
3. Bei Mir Bis Du Schöen
4. Girl from Ipa Nema
5. Mack The Knife
6. Swinging Shepard Blues
7. There will Never Be Another You
8. Sweet Georgia Brown
9. April Showers
10. Nancy
11. Dark Eyes
12. Sway
13. Satin Doll
14. A Man and A woman
15. Theme from “The Pink Panther”
16. September In The Rain
17. Summer Samba
18. Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
19. Meditation
20. Quiet Nights and Quiet Stars
21. Woodchoppers’ Ball – click to see video sample