Dan Newton's Café Accordion Orchestra (CAO) delivers an eclectic blend of French elegance, Latin heat, and Bohemian spirit. At the heart of the repertoire is the romantic Parisian valse-musette, complemented by hot club swing, ballads, tangos, cha-chas, rumbas, and cumbias. Performed with humor and expressive abandon, the show is as engaging in concert as it is on the dance floor.

CAO is led by Dan Newton (accordion, vocals), with Eric Mohring (mandolin, violin, vocals), Mike Cramer (guitar, vocals), Erik Lillestol (bass, vocals), and Joe Steinger (percussion). Delighting audiences and dancers since 1995, the band has performed at Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing in New York, the International Akkordeon Festival in Vienna, A Prairie Home Companion, and the Minnesota State Fair, as well as festivals, theaters, and dance halls across the United States.

A Brief History

CAO's repertoire resists a single label, spanning French musette, hot club swing, Tin Pan Alley, Latin music, and cinematic themes, and so does its origin story. It began in 1992 with a tune by accordionist Dan Newton, who had discovered musette, the sound of Parisian sidewalk cafés, while teaching at a music camp in northern California in the 1980s. Dan began writing in the style, affectionately calling the results "faux Parisian elevator music." A friend remarked that one piece sounded like "cafe accordion" music. The title stuck and became the name of Dan's first solo album.

Eager to play the material with other musicians, Dan formed a loose ensemble he called the Café Accordion Orchestra, which gave its first public performance on January 1, 1995. The goal was to evoke the ambiance of a French or European café, or the feeling of a silent film or a Fellini picture. A local newspaper described the band's first album as "world beat music of the Kennedy era."

Dan sought out the most versatile players in the Twin Cities' jazz, bluegrass, and folk scenes:

  • Eric Mohring (mandolin, violin) was discovered playing contra dance music at a local folk club. He brings a strong background in American old-time and Cajun music, is fluent in French and Greek, sings in four languages, and leads the Cajun band New Riverside Ramblers.

  • Joe Steinger (percussion) was drumming in a blues band and working for a major eclectic record distributor when he met Dan. His background in jazz and swing, along with years in the record business, gave him a deep knowledge of world music.

  • Erik Lillestol (bass) performs throughout the Twin Cities in styles ranging from jazz to outlaw country,

  • Mike Cramer (guitar) is an accomplished guitarist whose range runs from jazz to bluegrass and everything in between.

Over the years, the repertoire has grown to include French musette, hot club swing, Greek and Armenian music, American jazz and blues standards, Latin music, film soundtrack themes, and original compositions.