Gus Viseur

Gustave Joseph Viseur (17 May 1915 – 25 August 1974) was a Belgian/French accordionist.

Viseur was born in Lessines, Belgium, on 17 May 1915. His father was a bargeman, so the family moved around a lot until 1920, when they settled in Paris. 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. 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]

In the early 1930s, Viseur played second accordion under bandleader Médard Ferrero. In 1933, he met René "Charley" Bazin, and the two accordionists started improvising, inspired by hearing jazz. This led to Viseur forming his own band in 1935. It played in a variety of styles and recorded four tunes that year. "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.