Gustave Joseph Viseur (17 May 1915 – 25 August 1974)[note 1] was a Belgian/French accordionist.
Early life
Viseur was born in Lessines, Belgium, on 17 May 1915.[1] His father was a bargeman, so the family moved around a lot until 1920, when they settled in Paris.[2] Viseur was given basic instruction in how to play the accordion by his father from the age of eight, and then had lessons from a music professor.[2] Father and son played together in an amateur band from 1929.[2] After his father died,[2] Viseur "began performing on the streets of Paris in fairs and markets".[3]
Later life and career
In the early 1930s, Viseur played second accordion under bandleader Médard Ferrero.[2] In 1933, he met René "Charley" Bazin, and the two accordionists started improvising, inspired by hearing jazz.[2] This led to Viseur forming his own band in 1935.[2] It played in a variety of styles and recorded four tunes that year.[2] "Viseur had the reeds in his Fratelli Crosio accordion filed down and retuned", which replaced the traditional vibrato of a musette accordion with a more modern sound.[4]
Viseur "was a member of the orchestra led by the pianist Boris Sarbek, then worked in France and Belgium with Philippe Brun, Joseph Reinhardt, and his own quintet".[1] Together with guitarist Baro Ferret, Viseur added elements of swing to traditional musettes that they played from 1938 and into World War II.[5] He had more public attention after recording "L'Accordéoniste" with singer Édith Piaf in 1940.[6]
He toured the United States in 1963, then stopped playing and opened a record shop in Le Havre.[1] He started performing again around 1970,[1] and recorded the album Swing Accordéon the following year.[7] Viseur died in Le Havre on 25 August 1974.[1]
