Whoopee John Wilfahrt

Concertina player, bandleader, pioneer of "Dutchman" or "New Ulm" style polka music. Born May 11, 1893, on a farm near New Ulm, Minnesota. Moved to St Paul, Minnesota in 1925. Died June 15, 1961, in St. Paul, Minnesota. In the mid-1920s, Wilfahrt began performing widely on the radio, and from 1927, he made records. His first releases were cut in September 1927 in Minneapolis for the Okeh label, followed by two June 1928 sessions for Okeh in Chicago. From 1928, his recordings also appeared on Vocalion (2), Melotone, and Perfect (3), from 1930 on Brunswick. In 1934, he was signed by Decca as the label's second artist (Bing Crosby was first). In the late 1930s, Columbia began reissuing Wilfahrt's recordings as part of its "ethnic music" F-Series. A few reissues also appeared on Conqueror (1941). Wilfahrt's bands combined his concertina with a brass section (trumpet, trombone, tuba), but also clarinet, tenor sax, banjo, and drums. In addition to the German-Bohemian polkas, waltzes, laendlers, schottisches and mazurkas of his upbringing, Wilfahrt also played Italian, Swedish, and even Irish music, and his style incorporated elements of contemporary African-American music, such as syncopation, switching between tight arrangements and improvised solos, and a romping brass bass. The exuberant "whoops" with which Wilfahrt punctuated his band's music inspired his nickname "Whoopee John." Dressed in traditional Bavarian folk costume (short leather pants and felt hat) that comically contrasted with his band mates' spiffy suits, Wilfahrt developed an entertaining stage routine that included not only the whoops, but comical eye rolling and dramatic stretching of his concertina bellows. Inducted posthumously to the International Polka Association Hall of Fame (1976) and the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame (1989).