Charles Magnante born 7 November 1905

Charles Magnante (December 7, 1905 – December 30, 1986) was an American piano-accordionist, arranger, composer, author and educator. His artistry helped raise the image of the accordion from an instrument considered suitable only for folk music to an instrument accepted in many music genres. He was featured as accordion soloist on more than two dozen albums (many with studio orchestras), released by Columbia, Grand Award, Command Records, Decca Records, and other record labels. 

Magnante's father was a well-known amateur musician, and performed at Italian wedding receptions and other dance venues. Charles sang along with his father beginning at the age of five years, and at the age of seven, he secretly learned to play his father's accordion. At the age of sixteen his reputation as an accordionist had grown so much he was receiving many offers to join tours with stage bands, which he declined due to his continuing musical studies. 

Charles Magnante started his professional career playing in Italian restaurants and on the Staten Island Ferry. However, he wanted to break free from the O Sole Mio image of the stereotypical Italian-American accordionist which his audiences expected to hear.  By the mid 30’s he had formed The Magnante Quartet with Joe Biviano, Gene von Halsberg, and Abe Goldman as the other members, basically because these were his favourite players on the instrument besides himself. Thy recorded for Columbia and appeared on programs such as the Lucky Strike Hit parade, Major Bowes, Capitol Family and Fred Allen's Town Hall Tonight. 

In the 1940s, he was the leader of another trio with guitarist Tony Mottola and organist George Wright, and played regularly on NBC radio broadcasts. He worked also as a sought-after studio musician. Magnante was a favourite of the latter genre's guru Enoch Light, appearing on more Light music than any other instrumentalist. 

                      

At the peak of his career, he played 30 live radio broadcasts (including The Jack Berch Show) and eight studio sessions each week. He performed also as a solo concert musician, and once performed a solo concert at the Civic Stadium of Buffalo, New York for an audience of 40,000. Magnante was one of the twelve founding members of the American Accordionists' Association (founded in 1938), and also served as this organization's president for three terms. 

Magnante wrote method books for accordion players and numerous arrangements of contemporary popular standards, schlagers and classical pieces. Many of his arrangements can still be found in the standard repertoire of accordionists throughout the world. His best known composition is the solo "Accordiana" which he claims was composed in 20 minutes. His arrangements and compositions stretch across a number of musical genres, including easy listening, jazz and boogie-woogie, and light classical pieces. 

Magnante was married twice. He had a son and a daughter from his first marriage, from which he divorced. His second wife, Charlotte, was a professional musician, whom he met in Atlanta, Georgia. He died on December 30, 1986 in Ossining, Westchester County, New York. Charlotte died in 1997. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)