The big squeeze

Meet Tom Torriglia. The 49-year-old San Francisco native can't remember a time when he wasn't playing the accordion. Back when he was a kid, the instrument held a certain cachet, and he remembers hearing it played at gatherings with friends and family. The first model he owned was a La Melodiosa made in Italy; he was about 7 or 8.

Now he's sharing his love as the organizer of Day of the Accordion, a musical extravaganza Sunday featuring some of the best accordion musicians around. His group, Bell Ciao, is in the lineup and will perform its special brand of Italian-flavored swing and pop.

On a recent sunny afternoon, the band has assembled for a jam session in Torriglia's garage in preparation for Sunday's gig. Torriglia leaves the garage door open to take advantage of the sun, and Bella Ciao's zippy dance tunes spill out into the Marina-district street, drawing the attention of neighbor Terry Hove.

"It sounds like Italian folk," Hove says, "and Tex-Mex because of the accordion."

It is the fourth time Hove has stopped by to listen to Bella Ciao. Sometimes she catches them practicing while she washes her car. Being a singer herself, she appreciates good musicianship.

"This is definitely not your typical garage band," she says.

Hove breaks into a fandango. Arching her back and raising her arms, she struts down the sidewalk.

"Everyone likes a neighborhood nut," she chuckles, stepping in tune to Bella Ciao catchy beats.

But Torriglia, who also plays in The Squeegees, a San Francisco-based polka band, says that the accordion isn't just for ethnic-based music.

"You hear accordion in every musical genre, outside of metal," he says with a laugh. "But I see no reason why it wouldn't enhance metal -- and rap. Why not?"

The accordion, he points out, is a reed instrument, not a keyboard instrument as popularly believed.

"Inside, there are hollow reeds, which look kind of like metal nail files, tuned to different sounds. When you squeeze the accordion in and out, it pushes air where reeds are, and that causes the reeds to vibrate and make sound."

Torriglia says the accordion lost its popularity in the mid-1960s. With the British Invasion musical interest shifted, and pop bands replaced the accordion with electronic organ.

Still, Torriglia sees signs of an accordion revival. He sees many young bands playing the instrument, and when he tells people what he does for a living, "the overwhelming response is 'cool,' " he says. "I get that more than anything else."