Al Piatkowski
Hall of Fame – 2025
Al Piatkowski was born in Syracuse, New York. Music has been a part of his life as long as he could remember. He grew up listening to the Sunday polka programs and his parents would attend local dances and bring home the latest recordings, giving Al more music to listen to during the week.
At the age of seven, Al started a ten-year run of accordion lessons from one of Syracuse’s finest teachers, Ed Levandowski. After his lessons, Al would put on one of the polka recordings and play along with the band.
Around the age of 14, Al teamed up with drummer Leon Cominsky, and the duo began playing private parties. They also performed live on Bob Pietucha’s Polish Polka Jamboree, one of Syracuse’s weekly radio shows. Around this time his father took him to Buffalo, New York, to buy a chemnitzer concertina. Since the closest concertina teacher lived almost three hours away, Al learned to play the instrument mostly on his own and was soon performing in public.
While attending Marywood College in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he joined the Pennsylvania Merrymakers. During his third year of college, Al turned down an offer from Marion Lush to join his band in Chicago. He stayed in college and joined Jan Cyman’s Musicalaires. After graduation, he moved to Buffalo to become part of the Dynatones. Playing next to Larry Trojak and Scrubby Seweryniak was an experience that influenced him for years to come.
In 1984, Eddie Blazonczyk offered him to play accordion with the Versatones. Playing with Eddie was one of the highest points in Al’s musical career. In 1990, he decided to cut back on traveling and he performed fill-in work with Chicago area bands such as Marion Lush, the Ampol Aires, and Stas Bulanda.
In 1992 he joined Jackie Libera’s Classix and Freddie K., before teaming up with his current band, The Beat. In 1994, he performed with Polka Family at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and a year later with Brave Combo at the Lincoln Center. In his 30-year career, Al has performed with more than 60 different bands and appeared on over 30 recordings. His performances have brought him to 23 states and three foreign countries. He has been part of one Grammy Award, eight Grammy nominations, and numerous awards from the International Polka Association and other organizations. In 1990, he received the Favorite Accordion Player award from the United Polka. Besides the concertina and accordion, Al plays the keyboard, trumpet, and bass guitar.