Here's a press release I received from the Fredonia Opera House
Rick A. Davis, Executive Director, 1891 Fredonia Opera House, 9 Church St., PO Box 384, Fredonia, NY 14063 716/679-0891 http://www.fredopera.org/
Lenny Gomulka & Chicago Push –
Grammy Nominated Polka Band to Play Opera House
FREDONIA – Lenny Gomulka & Chicago Push, 12-time Grammy Award nominees for Best Polka Band, will bring their widely loved brand of Polka music to the 1891 Fredonia Opera House on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m.
Lenny Gomulka formed Chicago Push in January 1980. The band was inspired by Gomulka’s heritage and has evolved into the most progressive sound in polka music of the past two and a half decades. Noted for its unique arrangements and innovative musical techniques, Chicago Push has performed all across the country and internationally. Under Gomulka’s direction, the band has received countless awards from various radio stations across the country, booster clubs, promoters within the field and organizations such as the International Polka Association, United States Polka Association and the United Polka Association. The band has been nominated for 12 Grammy Awards for Best Polka Band.
Gomulka grew up in a predominantly Polish neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago near the stockyard district. The youngest of four children, he began playing drums at the age of 4 and trumpet at the age of 11. He recorded his first record album at age 12 and appeared on Ron Terry’s Amateur Hour on Chicago’s WGN-TV. At age 13 he mastered clarinet, sax, concertina & bass guitar and was granted an exceptional membership into the Chicago Federation of Musicians Union. At 14 he began playing & recording with Polka music legends such as Li’l Wally, Marion Lush and Eddie Blazonczyk. Twenty years later, at 34 Gomulka received his first Grammy Award nomination the first year an award for Polka music was presented. Four years later he was elected by his peers to the International Polka Music Hall of Fame.
Gomulka and Chicago Push created the “Push” style of polka music, which now is well-known among young musicians and Polka audiences as music that is both traditional and innovative, appealing to Polka fans of all ages.
“Polka is a special music, and Lenny Gomulka is a special polka artist,” notes Billboard magazine. “He’s one of the key purveyors of the high energy “Push” Polka style, and he has musically distinguished the sound in performance and also lyrically with his defining original composition ‘Chicago Style Music’.”
“Since 1980, Lenny Gomulka and the Chicago Push have been one of the most important polka bands in America,” notes Barry Sher, author of The Nostradamus Polka Page. “Lenny’s top-notch trumpet playing, beautiful voice and creative songwriting have set a high standard for others to aspire to.”
“Lenny Gomulka ranks among the best in the best field ... and that's saying a lot in a field that is filled with highly talented musicians. He and his Chicago Push have always been not only entertaining, but inventive, giving the polka a new, more modern image while still satisfying the tastes of polka purists,” adds Polonia Today. “If Polka music will survive and expand its base, it will be because of dedicated musicians such as Lenny,”
Tickets to Lenny Gomulka & Chicago Push are $15 general admission ($13 for Opera House members) and may be purchased in person at the Opera House Box Office or by phone at 716/679-1891 Tuesday through Friday, 1-5 p.m. and Saturday, 2-5 p.m. They also may be purchased online any time at http://www.fredopera.org/.
This performance is sponsored by Arkwright Printing. It also is made possible, in part, with public funds from NYSCA, a state agency, and the United Arts Appeal of Chautauqua County.
Chautauqua County’s only year-round performing arts center, the 1891 Fredonia Opera House is a member-supported not-for-profit organization located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia. A complete schedule of events is available at http://www.fredopera.org/.
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