Franc Marocco shows that the accordion doesn’t have to be relegated to Weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. His cd has him in two swinging small group sessions, one from 1960 and the second 17 years later. The Hollywood session from the Kennedy years has him with the hip team of Victor Feldman/vib, Al Hendrickson/g, Lloyd Lunham/b and Milt Holland/dr for bouncy reads of “Anything Goes,” “Umbrella Man” and a wheezing engine drive of “ Take the ‘A’ Train.” A nice bluesy bopper on “ Tiny’s Blues” has Marocco hitting the keys with delight and the band gets greasy on “Southern Fried.”
The 1977 Hollywood session includes Gary Foster/ts-as, Dave Koonse/g, Putter Smith/b and John Tirabasso/dr with a sauntering “Happy Samba” and driving “Night in Morocco.” Foster’s tenor oozes on ”Yours is My Heart Alone” and the team rumbles on the swinging “Southbound Express. A squeeze box filled with joy.