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ROB HOWARD - Accordion: A Pictorial History

ROB HOWARD - Accordion: A Pictorial History
Private Label

Two books written by Rob Howard who clearly has both a passion for, and a deep knowledge of, the accordion and related instruments. There is plenty of reading which would be of interest to a wide public here, including background to some of the makers and on the various fingering systems, but the main content of both books is photographs of individual instruments - over 300 photographs in Vintage Accordions and not too far short of that in A Pictorial History. Between both books they tell the story of the accordion from its origins in the early 1800s to the present day. The concertina makes an appearance, as do other related instruments, but the main focus is on piano and button boxes of all systems.

Rob Howard has previously published An A To Z Of The Accordion & Related Instruments, which in four volumes had a combined total of a thousand accordion related articles and biographies. His depth of knowledge on the subject is immense and I can hardly contemplate there being a collection of information on the subject to better this.

These books are A4 sized in hard back. The style and layout is a little old fashioned, but that won’t detract from the enjoyment of someone interested in the content. The project has clearly been a labour of love. The content and research would translate easily to a website would be a lasting legacy.

Pete Heywood

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This album was reviewed in Issue 107 of The Living Tradition magazine.