So one of the perks of having a blog devoted to all things accordion is that you end up having accordion scouts, not just all over the country, but all over the world. In that vein, I’d like to give a shout-out to my work buddies Frank Gilg and Kevin Myer.

They were a long way from home, traveling with UNOS’ Center for Transplant System Excellence. They visited Qatar to share UNOS’ expertise in developing and managing a nationwide network of organ donation and transplantation services.

So what do you do in Qatar? Sometimes you get hungry, and when you get hungry you might go to an Egyptian restaurant, and in that restaurant, if you’re lucky (and Frank and Kevin were), you’ll run into these wonderful twin brothers who play music.

As Kevin wrote me, “While there, we visited many locations to learn about the beautiful culture and wonderful people, and in doing so, had a wonderful dinner at this restaurant and had the pleasure of this random band and dinner guest playing some awesome Middle Eastern accordion jams.”

Some people get all the luck. But lucky for me (and for you) they recorded some of it on their cell phone. Check out this accordion accompaniment to an Iraqi pop song. People are digging the accordion and there’s no alcohol involved!

Accordion. It’s not just from Germany and Poland and Slovenia and France and Ireland and Italy and Israel and China and Mexico anymore.