If you go...
- What: Spring Fling Dance, featuring The Keith Zweifel Band with Gary Hendrickson, Bill Gempler and Don Hunjadi, and the International Main Street Polka Band
- When: 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, May 5
- Where: Turner Hall, 1217 17th Ave., Monroe
- Cover: $12
MONROE - This Sunday, musicians are paying tribute to the polka legacy of a local accordion player whose style and spirit lives on in the musical heritage of the region.
Roger Bright will be celebrated at the "Spring Fling" dance Sunday afternoon, May 5 at Turner Hall. His musical legacy is also honored annually at the Roger Bright Memorial Polka Fest, taking place this year June 14 to 16 in New Glarus.
Bright died in 2001, while playing at a polka fest in Colorado. He grew up in the 1940s and 1950s in Argyle, taking accordion lessons like many other kids his age from Swiss immigrant Rudy Burkhalter, and went on to play with polka greats Frankie Yankovic and Joey Miskulin. Even as he made a name for himself, he was still deeply attached to this area, playing often at local venues and mentoring younger musicians in his signature style that fused Slovenian and Swiss polka and incorporated yodeling.
Bright was a musician's musician, as Gary Hendrickson, Monroe, remembers it. Bright had a golden touch at putting together a good ensemble and leading musicians.
"He was not dictatorial. He made you want to do good," said Hendrickson, who's playing banjo and guitar in the Keith Zweifel Band on Sunday. Hendrickson met Bright in the early-to-mid 1970s and counts him as an influence.
Another Monroe musician, Bill Chambers, remembers meeting Bright when the accordionist was just 15 or 16 years old. Chambers, now 80, was a couple of years older in the early 1950s when he invited Bright to join his band, the Polka Kings.
He still remembers the phone call he made to the Bright household to ask the young accordion player if he'd join the Polka Kings. Roger's dad, John Bright, answered.
"Mr. Bright said, 'I'll have him there in 10 minutes.' He was going to bring him right down," Chambers said. The Brights supported their son's interest in polka and wanted him to play as much as possible.
That first Polka Kings rehearsal with Bright on accordion didn't go so well. Chambers only had chord symbols for Bright, not regular sheet music. It threw him off.
But by the band's next rehearsal, Bright had studied up and learned his parts.
"When he came back the next week, he was playing what I call 'fill,' or arpeggios," Chambers said. "I was in awe because he was so good." The Polka Kings performed at Bluffview Park in Brodhead, Turner Hall, Cheese Days and at school dances, playing polka classics as well as pop tunes of the day - "Harbour Lights," "Tennessee Waltz," "Careless" and "Good Night, Irene."
"I can remember one of my first checks was $8 per musician, for four hours work," Chambers said. "At that time, we thought it was good money."
Bright only played a couple of years with the Polka Kings, until Chambers left to join the army. When Chambers returned from his military service, Bright had moved on to another band.
Chambers still works at Ward Brodt Music in Madison after 40 years, but has since retired from playing. He may make an exception to sing with the bands Sunday.
Hendrickson is looking forward to playing to the dance floor at Turner Hall. "It's really a treasure," he said. "I've traveled all over and I have yet to see a nicer place."
Like Turner Hall's commitment to Swiss culture, Hendrickson and his fellow musicians are looking forward to carrying on Bright's polka style.
Roger Bright will be celebrated at the "Spring Fling" dance Sunday afternoon, May 5 at Turner Hall. His musical legacy is also honored annually at the Roger Bright Memorial Polka Fest, taking place this year June 14 to 16 in New Glarus.
Bright died in 2001, while playing at a polka fest in Colorado. He grew up in the 1940s and 1950s in Argyle, taking accordion lessons like many other kids his age from Swiss immigrant Rudy Burkhalter, and went on to play with polka greats Frankie Yankovic and Joey Miskulin. Even as he made a name for himself, he was still deeply attached to this area, playing often at local venues and mentoring younger musicians in his signature style that fused Slovenian and Swiss polka and incorporated yodeling.
Bright was a musician's musician, as Gary Hendrickson, Monroe, remembers it. Bright had a golden touch at putting together a good ensemble and leading musicians.
"He was not dictatorial. He made you want to do good," said Hendrickson, who's playing banjo and guitar in the Keith Zweifel Band on Sunday. Hendrickson met Bright in the early-to-mid 1970s and counts him as an influence.
Another Monroe musician, Bill Chambers, remembers meeting Bright when the accordionist was just 15 or 16 years old. Chambers, now 80, was a couple of years older in the early 1950s when he invited Bright to join his band, the Polka Kings.
He still remembers the phone call he made to the Bright household to ask the young accordion player if he'd join the Polka Kings. Roger's dad, John Bright, answered.
"Mr. Bright said, 'I'll have him there in 10 minutes.' He was going to bring him right down," Chambers said. The Brights supported their son's interest in polka and wanted him to play as much as possible.
That first Polka Kings rehearsal with Bright on accordion didn't go so well. Chambers only had chord symbols for Bright, not regular sheet music. It threw him off.
But by the band's next rehearsal, Bright had studied up and learned his parts.
"When he came back the next week, he was playing what I call 'fill,' or arpeggios," Chambers said. "I was in awe because he was so good." The Polka Kings performed at Bluffview Park in Brodhead, Turner Hall, Cheese Days and at school dances, playing polka classics as well as pop tunes of the day - "Harbour Lights," "Tennessee Waltz," "Careless" and "Good Night, Irene."
"I can remember one of my first checks was $8 per musician, for four hours work," Chambers said. "At that time, we thought it was good money."
Bright only played a couple of years with the Polka Kings, until Chambers left to join the army. When Chambers returned from his military service, Bright had moved on to another band.
Chambers still works at Ward Brodt Music in Madison after 40 years, but has since retired from playing. He may make an exception to sing with the bands Sunday.
Hendrickson is looking forward to playing to the dance floor at Turner Hall. "It's really a treasure," he said. "I've traveled all over and I have yet to see a nicer place."
Like Turner Hall's commitment to Swiss culture, Hendrickson and his fellow musicians are looking forward to carrying on Bright's polka style.