Tony de la Rosa was the king of the conjunto accordion. He was perfect. I had the enormous pleasure to work with him and produce a couple of his albums for Rounder a few years before he died and Brave Combo has always had one of his songs in whatever current repertoire, “Atotonilco,” being the best-known of his many hits. One of my favorites, for many reasons, is “Elida Polka.” It has everything and it’s trancey as hell (or heaven). So, I started messing with it and decided to turn it into a modern Oberkreiner/German-style polka, with a very heavy bass drum and in-your-face tuba sound. I don’t know if anyone will dig this or not, but I like it and will be playing it live with Brave Combo this polka season. And the video will definitely enhance your experience, especially if you love looking at me. That’s me, actually playing it, right there, in front of the camera. And I give my performance a solid B minus! Just as good as live!
Randall Rudd says
I cannot say in these last many decades Carl has not played something I found interesting and enjoyable.