Jim Gilman and the Associates

History

I started playing professionally in 1970 as a street entertainer at Knott's Berry Farm. After graduating from Cal State Long Beach in 1972, I joined a trio traveling throughout the Mid-West performing at Holiday Inns. In the late 70's I put together my own group - Jim Gilman and the Associates. Over the years I've played on cruise ships. for local clubs, private parties, corporate affairs, and local radio stunts. I've hosted a stage and performed at The Orange County Big Squeeze Accordion Festival.every year it's been held. I've been a featured musician for the last 7 years at the largest accordion festival in the U.S. - The Cotati Accordion Festival. This last October we performed as an Oktoberfest polka band on the Jimmy Kimmel show for a bit he was doing to promote Sam Adams beer. With the increased popularity of Oktoberfest, I've costumed the band in lederhosen and we play for parties all over Southern California. We'd love to play for your event.

Specialties

We are a small band that specializes in a wide variety of good dance music which would include Latin, swing, 50's & 60's oldies, foxtrots, waltzes, polkas, line dances, country western as well as a variety of ethnic music - German, Italian, French, etc. Depending on your requirements, we can perform as a 4 pc, 3 pc, 2 pc, or single musician. Typically, we are comprised of sax, guitar, and multiple keyboards with vocals and harmony.