Ray Pride

Weirdly joyous, Stefan Schwietert's Swiss-Austrian "Accordion Tribe" (2003) is a rich, emotional documentary that follows five accordion composer-players on a European tour, unfurling their cultural idiosyncrasies and their diverse approaches to making beautiful sounds from the underappreciated instrument. Seeing it a couple years after catching it at a documentary festival in the north of Greece, "Accordion Tribe" still offers trancelike intensity of the dazzling sounds produced by Guy Klucevsek (USA), Lars Hollmer (Sweden), Maria Kalaniemi (Finland), Otto Lechner (Austria), and Bratko Bibic (Slovenia), drawing from jazz, folk, avant-garde and classical influences. They're all characters--especially the blind Lechner and the wisecracking Klucevsek--and their travails on the road add wry, self-deprecating charm to the work that's there to hear. 90m. "Accordion Tribe" is mostly in English.

"Accordion Tribe" plays Sunday and Monday at Siskel. (2006-09-12)

Also by Ray Pride

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(2006-08-29)

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Tip of the Week
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Tip of the Week
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Tip of the Week
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Tip of the Week
(2006-08-01)

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