Rony Verbiest honors accordionist Johnny Meijer

By Peter Beije | Photo’s by  Eddy Westveer

Johnny Meijer was a man of the swinging standards, which are also on the CD, such as “Sweet Loraine”, “Body and Soul’’, “Lady be Good” and “You do not know what love is’’. The songs are all played nicely and that reveals the great strength of Rony Verbiest as a musician. Whether it be songs from the repertoire of Brubeck , Monk or Meijer it’s all very musical.

Johnny Meijer (1912-1992) did not like to travel. He preferred to stay in Amsterdam and has therefore not become world famous. In 1953 and 1954 he went abroad to participate in the world championship for accordionists, winning both times. In his eyes, he didn’t have to work hard for it yet Johnny Meijer is best known as a musician who accompanied Amsterdam singers, there was good money to earn.

Father Michel Verbiest was a celebrated accordionist in Flanders and his son Rony started playing the instrument at a young age. “In the mid-60s , when the accordion was exchanged for the saxophone, I went with my parents on a city trip to Amsterdam.” A concert of Johnny Meijer was also on the program. And that made a great impression on Rony . “Once back in Belgium , I could have just one sound and one way of playing the accordion i.e. Johnny Meijer’s way of playing . This remains until the present day.”

The series of three CD’S began in spring 2012 with the recording of the Brubeck album. Rony Verbiest feels kinship with the American pianist and composer, who had studied under the classis composer Darius Milhaud. In the liner notes he stated: “Having enjoyed a classical education myself the time Measures from Bartok, Stravinsky or Dave Brubeck were never far away.”

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Johnny Meijer

Uploaded on Aug 2, 2009

Johnny Meijer (accordeon)
Manke Nelis (bass)
John Engels (drums)

Johnny Meijer

Johnny Meijer (born 'Jan Cornelis Meijer' 1 October 1912 in Amsterdam; died 8 January 1992 in Amsterdam) was an accordionist who played Jazz, classical and folk. He was known as one of the great jazz accordionist of his time. His 75th birthday was celebrated at the North Sea Jazz Festival. He was also the subject of a film. He is the grandfather of pop singer Eva Simons. From the 1950s onwards Johnny Meijer frequently toured abroad and earned the title King of the Accordion. Although the accordion is often associated with folk music, Meyer was versatile enough to play jazz and classical music.

Twice he was accordion world champion in 1953 and 1954. Besides the popular songs, he also played fast swing numbers, Romanian music and classical pieces and was widely recognized as a virtuoso jazz accordionist. In 1974 he recorded the Dutch Swing College Band Johnny Goes Dixie LP, which went gold.

He will be remembered primarily as a live performer of folk music in Amsterdam. He was typically seen during performances with a cigar in his mouth, and his accordion (which can be seen at the Gert Nijkamp Muziekhuis in Apeldoorn) shows several burn marks as a result of this. In the last years of his life, Johnny Meyer was rarely invited to play large performances, mainly in connection with his short temper and his drinking, and thus the King of the Accordion saw out his final days mostly in silence, occasionally playing at weddings and parties.

• http://youtu.be/CfUwn3IJScY

Johnny Meijer

Johnny Meijer (born 'Jan Cornelis Meijer' 1 October 1912 in Amsterdam; died 8 January 1992 in Amsterdam) was an accordionist who played Jazz, classical and folk. He was known as one of the great jazz accordionist of his time. His 75th birthday was celebrated at the North Sea Jazz Festival. He was also the subject of a film. He is the grandfather of pop singer Eva Simons.

From the 1950s onwards Johnny Meijer frequently toured abroad and earned the title King of the Accordion. Although the accordion is often associated with folk music, Meyer was versatile enough to play jazz and classical music. Twice he was accordion world champion in 1953 and 1954. Besides the popular songs, he also played fast swing numbers, Romanian music and classical pieces and was widely recognized as a virtuoso jazz accordionist.

In 1974 he recorded the Dutch Swing College Band Johnny Goes Dixie LP, which went gold. He will be remembered primarily as a live performer of folk music in Amsterdam. He was typically seen during performances with a cigar in his mouth, and his accordion (which can be seen at the Gert Nijkamp Muziekhuis in Apeldoorn) shows several burn marks as a result of this. In the last years of his life, Johnny Meyer was rarely invited to play large performances, mainly in connection with his short temper and his drinking, and thus the King of the Accordion saw out his final days mostly in silence, occasionally playing at weddings and parties.

http://youtu.be/CfUwn3IJScY