Café Accordion Orchestra

Café Accordion Orchestra

Dan Newton's Café Accordion Orchestra (CAO) performs an eclectic mix full of French flare, Latin heat and Bohemian attitude. The heart of the CAO repertoire is the romantic, Parisian valse-musette. The group complements the musettes with Parisian hot club, swing, ballads, tangos, cha chas, rumbas, and cumbias to create a wonderfully varied show. They inject their music with good humor and expressive abandon. Their high level of musicianship and passion for performance makes them an entertaining concert act as well as a great dance band.
CAO is led by Dan Newton on accordion and vocals, with Eric Mohring on mandolin, violin and vocals, Brian Barnes on guitar and vocals, Erik Lillestol on bass and vocals and JOE STEINGER on percussion. CAO has been delighting audiences and dancers alike since 1995. They have appeared in New York at the Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing series, the International Akkordeon Festival in Vienna, Austria, the Minnesota State Fair, as well as festivals, theaters and dance halls across the United States.
Over the years the band's repertoire has broadened, covering French Musette, Hot Club Swing, Greek, Armenian, American Jazz and Blues standards, Latin music and sounds from film soundtracks as well as original music. CAO's sound has taken them to Vienna, Austria for performances at the International Akkordeon Festival. They have appeared in New York at the Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing series, Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, The Minnesota State Fair, as well as festivals, theaters and dance halls across the United States.