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Jeski, John
(1954 - 2007)

Accordion Master Jeski Dies At 53.
Hartford Radio Personality and Band Leader.

by Bill Leukhardt

John Jeski, the master accordionist and band leader whose live performances and radio shows spread the joy of polka to thousands in southern New England for years, died Sunday, August 19, 2007.

He was 53 and lived in West Hartford with his wife and their two daughters.

Jeski, born in Hartford, learned to play the accordion in his teens, helped by local teachers and a friendship with West Coast accordion virtuoso Dick Contino.

Friends said Jeski was a de facto Johnny Appleseed of the accordion and polka, teaching hundreds of students, playing hundred of gigs and hosting successful Polish American music shows on AM stations WRYM and WRTC for more than 20 years.

More than 400 people crowded the Polish National Home in Hartford in August for a tribute to Jeski, who was diagnosed with cancer late last year. The ailing Jeski attended.

"He was in great spirits. The place was packed. lt was amazing the number of people who showed up," said Andres Chaparro, who oversees Hartford's Cultural Affairs Office, which for years had awarded grants to Jeski for summer concerts in Goodwin Park. "I was never a fan of the polka until I met John. He was so much fun, so much energy on stage. He had so much love and energy for the music, you just knew it's got to be good, and you give it a chance. He will truly be missed."

Patti Jakubiak of Bristol, lead singer with Patti & the Guys and the host of "Patti Ann's Polka Happiness" radio show for the past 22 years, said she's heard hundreds of accordion players in her life but could pick out Jeski's singular style.

"He was fast. It was really awesome," Jakubiak said. "His work brought pleasure to people. That tribute to John was a wonderful night. A lot of musicians came out, including a lot of people from the old days."

Contino, reached at his home in Las Vegas, said Jeski had a tremendous love of music and was able to express his innermost feelings, even with the simplest polkas.

"It's passion. He will live on in his music," Contino said. "You can destroy the manuscript, but the music lives on."

Jeff Banas of Terryville, a close friend of Jeski for 30 years, was co-host of a Sunday radio show with him from the Polish National Home. He said that in July, Jeski's illness brought an end to the show, which had been on local airwaves - with various hosts - for about 60 years.

"John was a consummate professional, and if he couldn't give 110 percent, he was nervous about going on the air," Banas said. "He could play any style, sight-read anything, write and arrange his own music."

Peter Pantalak, a South Windsor trumpeter and accordionist who accepted Jeski's students when he was unable to continue giving lessons, said Jeski was an innovator in his approach to polkas through his use of nontraditional songs, rhythm and scoring trumpet parts in higher registers.

"He loved the trumpet - I think he was a frustrated trumpet player," he said. "I think John's legacy will be his radio shows. They were so popular."

Jeski was very strong for the Polish American cause, Banas said. "He wanted to keep the traditions going. The new immigrant kids, they don't want to hear the polka. They want to be American. For them, the polka is just one dance at a wedding."

A Mass was celebrated at SS. Cyril & Methodius Church in Hartford with burial at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield.

Source: Polish American Journal, October 2007, Vol. 96, No.10.; reprinted from The Hartford Courant.

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