It’s the sound – bouncy, syncopated, fun (not serious). As hard as the founding fathers tried, America is still more “Saloon” that “Salon”. Even when we imitated Europe, it never quite worked. America is not a “Classical” country. We don’t have royalty-we have Jefferson. Americans like leisure time- they like fun. Classical music may be enlightened, but it’s rarely fun. And if music is fun (and it’s supposed to be classical) it can’t really be taken seriously!

Ever notice what happens at a home gathering – a pianist (or violinist, etc) plays a classical piece and everyone applauds politely. When an accordionist gets up to play, the scene changes. Out come martinis, cigars, cakes.

The mother of accordionists and ragtimers is classical music. But the