The Bandleader

Walter Kühr is the man responsible for the creation of The Main SqueezeOrchestra as well as the owner of Main Squeeze, a Lower East Side boutique “For All Your Accordion Needs” and the center of the accordion community in New York City.

One night, after attending an accordion festival, Kühr dreamt he was the conductor of an all-female accordion orchestra. Not just any all-female accordion orchestra, but an orchestra of unsurpassable quality. The next morning, he began recruiting among his female students. Under the tutelage of his mother Loni, Walter Kühr began wrestling with the unwieldy squeezebox as a six-year old in Germany. Later, he studied classical music in Frankfurt, and played piano in a jazz quartet, as well as performing polkas and tangos with his accordion in local clubs.In 1988 he received a scholarship to study at Jazzmobile in Harlem. He moved to America and has lived in NYC ever since.

Since then, Kühr and various partners have cranked out polkas and tangos
in smaller clubs and nightspots. With his band The Last of the International Playboys, a nine-piece latin jazz and lounge act, he plays the big clubs of New York and Florida. Having recorded two albums already — The LP: “Last of the International Playboys: Vegas Jazz and Latin Lounge” and the EP “Havana Bananas”, their third CD “The Lonliest Man in the World” is due out soon.

In addition to MSO, the Playboys and Main Squeeze, Kühr plays accordion
for commercials, television shows and films. And if you’re *very* lucky, you can catch Walter and his infamous ballydancer, Julia, performing Middle Eastern music around town.