“Al Iorio (passing of)” Letter to the Editor – North Jersey/Newsweek

March 27, 2013

To:   www.NorthJersey.com and  www.newsday.com (Long Island)

Attention: levin@northjersey.com)

Letter to the Editor:

Clarifications about Amedeo “Al” Iorio

Dear Mr. Levin:

Amedeo “Al” Iorio was part of an “accordion family dynasty”. Sadly, with him, a part of accordion history in the U.S. is gone.  His grandfather Augusto brought his skills from Castelfidardo, Italy (accordion capitol of the World) to New York City, establishing the Augusto Iorio e Figli Co. “Fabbrica di Organetti” circa 1907.  We will miss these three generations (Augusto, son Candido, and grandson “Al”) of fine musical artisans.  Luckily, Iorio accordions still abound in the U.S., keeping their memory alive.

Al Iorio was one of the pioneers that contributed to the  first successful and refined electronic accordion; some of his patented electronic designs were used by Lowrey Organ Co. (under M.H. Berlin, president of parent company Chicago Musical Instrument Corp.) and Farfisa S.p.A of Italy (under Gervasio Marcosignori, Director of Instrument Development) in their joint development and production of the World’s first truly refined, advanced and successful line of electronic accordions, the Cordovox, introduced circa 1960/1961.  Mr. Iorio also developed his Iorio Accorgan line of electronic accordions, still in production during the 2000’s.

These mens’ work represents part of the last Golden Age of the Accordion, when fine artisan traditions and know-how were combined with the marvels of “the age of technology”; it lives on in the many Cordovox and Iorio Accorgans still in circulation around the U.S.A. and even abroad.

Fabio G. Giotta

Trieste Music, San Francisco

www.caffetrieste.com