Profiles
Al
(photo by Jim Marakovits)
A few years ago a news reporter described Al Meixner's life as "overflowing with music." To audiences around the world this decription cannot capture all the emotions his music has brought to millions in his over 35 years as an entertainer. Since his professional career started at age eleven, he has gone on to perform all around the world as a featured soloist with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans and with his own bands. He has also been a staff musician/arranger at Walt Disney World in Florida for over 7 years in addition to performing, producing and engineering over 70 recordings for himself and other artists - including a 1994 Grammy award winner with his son, Alex and Canada's Polka King, Walt Ostanek. His expertise on the button accordion has astounded audiences and critics although he is equally adept on piano accordion, bass (his college major), keyboards, drums and vocals in eleven languages. Although Al's versatility allows him to perform almost any kind of music, he chooses to specialize in the ethnic music he has loved for his entire life.
Alex
Alex, at an early age, realized he would have the opportunity to become formally educated in music in order to gain a greater appreciation of his cultural musical roots. His musical expressiveness and versatility has allowed him to perform as an accordion soloist with Sandy Duncan on national TV, with the London Symphony Orchestra as a classical trumpeter, as a sideman with many leading polka bands in the US and as a jazz trumpet soloist at Ithaca College in New York where he received bachelors degrees in Music Education and Performance. He was a graduate assistant at Penn State University where he earned a masters degree in trumpet performance. Alex has electrified audiences with his show stopping musicianship on his main instrument, trumpet, as well as on button accordion, piano accordion, keyboards, bass, drums and vocals. Besides performing with the Al Meixner Trio, Alex has also maintained a busy schedule of recording dates - including three solo albums on Euro-Class Music which have received him acclaim as "the most exciting button box player in the USA today."
The Al Meixner Trio was rounded out by a dynamic drummer who
provided the great danceable beats of the band. This drummer was
personally selected by Al from a pool of professional percussionists
who were utilized in different geographic locations and different
repertoire situations depending on their area of expertise. All of Al's
drummers were well versed in polka, jazz, pop, swing, rock, nostalgic
and classical drumming and were very capable at playing all of the
specialized ethnic rhythms of the
Al Meixner Trio.
Here is a listing (hopefully, complete)
of the fine drummers who,
at one time or another, performed with the Al Meixner Trio.
Ty Baden,Stan Bergoich, Dave Burnatowski,
Hughie Cannon, Brian Czach,
John Domitrovits, Jr., Craig Ebel, Ray Ferri, Rick Giering, Jim Groller,
Greg Guzevich, Mark Heinsman, Ed Klancnik, George Klepec, Rob Legath,
Mike McIntyre, Fred Miehl, Joe Oberaitis, Don Rothermell, Mark Siebert,
Emil Simitz, Bill Yob, Matt Zebroski
THANK YOU to each and every one of them !!!