SDL Music Album of the Month : Solo Accordion Classics - Yogi Martin

The October 2022 SDL Music Album of the Month is Grant ‘Yogi’ Martin’s album Solo Accordion Classics. Recorded in 2000 this album has been one of SDL Music’s surprise hits with accordion fans around the world, especially in Europe.

I first met Yogi in the early 1990’s through Graham Brazier. He was known as an accomplished accordion player and used to play at Calabria Italian restaurant in Ponsonby, amongst many other places and included solo tours to China, Canada and the USA. In 1998 Graham and I brought Yogi onboard for the ‘Raw’ album and his addition to many of the songs, such as Vermillion, gave a new depth to such familiar pieces. 

A couple of years later Yogi came into the studio to perform his own album, which was the first of two accordion classics. Yogi was an incredibly efficient artist to record, coming in, mic’ing up and then he just played. The whole album is recorded live and his virtuoso talents resulted in a great albums with real authenticity. He was a great guy, so laid back and easy to work with. Once the albums were finished he was unsure about what he wanted to do with them. It wasn’t until after his untimely death in 2007 and the development of online streaming that I felt there was an appropriate platform to get his music out there.

The recently re-released, Under Paris Skies, is the original recording with a backing added for more complete sound.  There is no question that Yogi’s renditions of Lambada and Tequila will sparkle in any dinner party playlists. 

Yogi was relatively unknown in NZ but widely respected in the accordion world wide web. Sadly, Yogi passed away in 2012 but his album still resonates with accordion fans around the world.