John Kimmel (accordionist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John J. Kimmel (13 December 1866 – 18 September 1942[1][2]) was a German-American musician known for playing Irish, Scottish, and American music on the 1-row diatonic accordion (or melodeon).[3][4] Though not Irish-American, but rather German-American (born in Brooklyn to German immigrants Margaretha Schmidt and John Kimmel), Kimmel's playing had an enduring effect on the playing of the Irish accordion.[5]
Kimmel's career stretched roughly from 1904 to 1920,[6] largely in New York City. He kept saloons, including one called The Accordion, and hired various early vaudeville performers including a young Mae West.[7] His earliest recordings, done on Edison Wax Cylinder, were around 1906.[8] Kimmel's works often appeared under the name Kimmble,[1] and he was known to bill himself as the Irish Dutchman (cf. Deutsch).[9] He made electrical recordings in 1928 and early 1929 for Victor and on Edison Diamond Discs.
Tributes
- Irish Boy March (Victor Records 1907)
- Medley of Irish Jigs (Emerson Records 1919)[10]
- Medley of Irish Reels (Emerson Records 1919)[10]
- John Kimmel - Virtuoso of the Irish Accordion (Smithsonian Institution Folkways Records, 1980)
- Accordion Solo - Medley of Reels No2 (Indestructible phonograph Cylinder record 1908)
- John J. Kimmel, un héritage fabuleux (2010)
