Friday, November 7, 2008

Lou Logist, His Chorus and Orchestra

Artist: Lou Logist, His Orchestra and Chorus
LP: Polka Pie
Song: "El Rancho Grande"
[ listen ]
Song: "Bash Basha"
[ listen ]

Here's something lively to kick off the weekend. To learn all about Lou Logist, I just had to flip the record cover over:

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lou Logist was born in Oplinter, Belgium in 1914. Mr. Logist's musical
education began at the age of 9 when he studied the accordion. In
later studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, he
mastered the bassoon. He was not aware, at the time, that the
accordion would become his main instrument. In 1939, he discovered
"Jazz" and played "this new type music" with all the
important bands in the country.


Here are the liner notes about "Polka Pie," also from the back of the record sleeve:


Webster defines the polka as a dance of Bohemian origin, performed
by two persons; or music suitable for such a dance.

Since the first portion of the definition is impossible to offer on any
recording, our basic interest is the latter segment—music suitable for
such a dance. And music more suitable for polka dancing than this
"Polka Pie" treat by Lou Logist, his Chorus and Orchestra is just
about impossible to find anywhere.

For in this peppy polka package, Logist presents polka music as the
listener desires it most—full of the spirit and joy that the music calls
for, colorfully enhanced by the happy sound of a chorus and zestfully
fired up by the large polka orchestra.

To add further color to this delightful dance, Logist has chosen music
from the many countries of the world to make up the tasty
slices of his delectable "Polka Pie."

The first piece of "Polka Pie" comes from Italy as we hear an
exciting polka rendition of "Reginella Campagnola." Another luscious
slice is the wonderful "Flamenco Polka"—a polka with an exciting
Latin flair dramatized by the sounds of castanettes. For proper
seasoning, Logist changes the pace as he offers a mazurka—the
"Warsaw Mazurka" representing Poland. Never was there a polka
that made you want to dance as much as Logist's imaginative
arrangement of Mexico's "El Rancho Grande." Two basidc ingredients
in the pie are the delightful polka evergreen—America's own "Pennsyl-
vania Polka" and the new favorite, "The Liechtensteiner Polka."

Making up the remainder of probably the most delicious polka pie you've
ever sampled is polka music from Canada, Iran, Austria, Israel and Sweden.

Although the name Lou Logist is new on the American horizon,
in Belgium, his homeland, and throughout Europe, he has long been
regarded as one of the Continent's leading accordionists, arrangers,
bandleaders and composers.

As a result of the tremendous public acceptance accorded him in
his various musical associations with other groups, Logist formed
his own band in 1944 and became a number one artist in Northern
Europe, a position which he still holds today. His familiarity with vast
numbers of instruments has made him one of the top arrangers in all
of Europe, a talent one can easily recognize in this "Polka Pie" album.

Sample a slice of this "Polka Pie" and see if you don't come back
for a second helping. We promise you that a wall-flower will be
a rarity in your household.


I was initially only going to post the song "El Rancho Grande," but if I found out that someone had a record with an Iranian polka on it and they didn't let me hear it, I'd be plenty mad. And I don't know about wall-flowers, but while I was playing Lou Logist's "Polka Pie" LP, the fungus on my bathroom ceiling disappeared.

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