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IORIO ACCORDIONS
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Tom Coss
Mar 18, 2013, 7:43:55 AM3/18/13
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HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Amedeo "Al" Iorio, a mechanical engineer from
Cresskill, N.J., hailed from a family of accordion makers. Little wonder
that he engineered a better accordion. Iorio, who died Monday at 94,
developed the first successful electronic accordion, called the Accorgan
-- a veritable orchestra in a squeezebox, thanks to an embedded chip.
"If Al had never put in those electronic sounds, the accordion would not
have been recognized as an instrument that could be played in many
musical groups," said Norman Seaton, president of the National Accordion
Association. "He was definitely a pioneer," Seaton said. Iorio's
forebears began in the music business in the mid-19th century in Italy.
His father, Candido, opened an accordion shop in Manhattan in 1907.
Iorio, with a mechanical engineering degree from Stevens Institute of
Technology, transformed the business, renamed it the Iorio Syn-Cordion
Musical Instrument Co. and moved it to an Englewood, N.J., industrial
park. Iorio was an unabashed champion of the accordion, an instrument
that, for many, conjures memories of Lawrence Welk and polka bands. "The
accordion will never die out," he said in a 2002 interview with The
Record. "There's still a lot of business out there, and the new
computerized keyboards are always advancing themselves." As for his own
musical prowess, Iorio "didn't go out and do gigs or anything," said a
niece, Denise Grasing of Leonia, N.J. "But he played the accordion well
enough to be able to demonstrate it and sell it." Iorio continued on
after the business closed. "His garage was full of accordion parts, and
you could always call him," said Guenadiy Lazarov, owner of Accordion
Gallery, a sales and service business in Roxbury, N.J. "He was proud of
his family's legacy, and it was a blessing for him to still do what he
enjoyed." Iorio, an Army Air Forces veteran of World War II, is survived
by his wife, Gloria; a sister, Norma Ferraro of Long Island; a
granddaughter and a great-granddaughter. His son, Ken, who co-owned the
family business, died in 1996.
Cresskill, N.J., hailed from a family of accordion makers. Little wonder
that he engineered a better accordion. Iorio, who died Monday at 94,
developed the first successful electronic accordion, called the Accorgan
-- a veritable orchestra in a squeezebox, thanks to an embedded chip.
"If Al had never put in those electronic sounds, the accordion would not
have been recognized as an instrument that could be played in many
musical groups," said Norman Seaton, president of the National Accordion
Association. "He was definitely a pioneer," Seaton said. Iorio's
forebears began in the music business in the mid-19th century in Italy.
His father, Candido, opened an accordion shop in Manhattan in 1907.
Iorio, with a mechanical engineering degree from Stevens Institute of
Technology, transformed the business, renamed it the Iorio Syn-Cordion
Musical Instrument Co. and moved it to an Englewood, N.J., industrial
park. Iorio was an unabashed champion of the accordion, an instrument
that, for many, conjures memories of Lawrence Welk and polka bands. "The
accordion will never die out," he said in a 2002 interview with The
Record. "There's still a lot of business out there, and the new
computerized keyboards are always advancing themselves." As for his own
musical prowess, Iorio "didn't go out and do gigs or anything," said a
niece, Denise Grasing of Leonia, N.J. "But he played the accordion well
enough to be able to demonstrate it and sell it." Iorio continued on
after the business closed. "His garage was full of accordion parts, and
you could always call him," said Guenadiy Lazarov, owner of Accordion
Gallery, a sales and service business in Roxbury, N.J. "He was proud of
his family's legacy, and it was a blessing for him to still do what he
enjoyed." Iorio, an Army Air Forces veteran of World War II, is survived
by his wife, Gloria; a sister, Norma Ferraro of Long Island; a
granddaughter and a great-granddaughter. His son, Ken, who co-owned the
family business, died in 1996.
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