Tulle - The accordeon festival

I discovered the existence of the accordeon festival at Tulle, via Facebook, I think.   Since I'm trying to learn how to play this instrument, we decided to go down there and listen to some experts, and immerse ourselves in the universe of accordeons.   The town of Tulle straddles the river Corrèze in the département of Corrèze, in the region of Nouvelle Aquitaine.   Not a big town, and not especially remarkable, but it does house France's only remaining accordeon factory, the Maugein brand, hence the festival.

There were paying concerts, plus numerous open-air performances that were free.  Plus, on the smallest scale, individual players toured the streets on the backs of vintage cars, playing as they went.   There were musical options to be had at all hours of the day, and much of the night for those with any energy left.

We had bought tickets for four paid concerts, but one was cancelled due to one of the quartet having caught covid.  Each concert was excellent, and presented its own special highlights.  On the first night, the Tango Secret group deserves a special shout-out for the pianist Céline Bishop whose subtlety of phrasing was amazing.  Marc Grauwels the flutist played with a ravisihing tone and lightning technique.   Accompanied by the accordeonist Christophe Delporte, he played many pieces usually associated with the flute and piano, the rounder attack of the accordeon gave a very different view of the pieces.   The jazz concert featured two different performances; Frederick Viale opened with a solo recital, and was followed by an accordeon/baritone sax duo of Daniel Mille and Eric Seva.   The highlight was when the three musicians played together at the end.  Something special happens when musicians playing by heart synchronise their improvisation just by looking each other in the eye.