Jimmy Sturr

Clarinetist, saxophonist, vocalist, and orchestra leader Jimmy Sturr ranks among the leading contemporary figures in polka, having issued over 100 albums beginning in the 1960s. Following years of road work and studio activity, he reached a commercial peak in the 1980s and 1990s by capturing the Grammy for Best Polka Album with unprecedented frequency and establishing the longest streak of consecutive nominations ever recorded in a single category. Rather than limiting performances to Polish community halls and private celebrations, Sturr pursued broader audiences by incorporating elements of pop, rock, big-band swing, country, Tex-Mex, and Cajun styles. Although he earned spots on Saturday Night Live and the Grand Ole Opry while collaborating with prominent country artists, traditionalists frequently criticized his approach for diluting polka’s straightforward ethnic origins and for adopting the flashy presentation associated with Las Vegas productions. Even so, his genre-blending experiments carried the form forward into the 2000s, positioning him as its most visible representative.

Sturr entered the world in 1941 in the small upstate community of Warwick, New York, though he routinely subtracted ten years from that date during conversations. Despite his Irish ancestry, he immersed himself early in the town’s Polish-American milieu, frequenting polka events and admiring Myron Floren on The Lawrence Welk Show. At age 13 he began studying clarinet and playing locally, later receiving a music scholarship to the Valley Forge Military Academy. After completing studies at the University of Scranton, where he maintained part-time performances with his ensemble, he reentered the polka circuit full time and spent the remainder of the 1960s on the road and in the studio. In 1969 he launched Starr Records and subsequently developed several regional enterprises, among them a management company for polka performers, a publishing firm, a travel agency, and a radio outlet. Throughout the 1970s he continued releasing material under the name Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra, favoring an Americanized sound that featured English vocals and nods to current fashions, most notably the 1979 double album Polka Disco. That same year he added lead singer and saxophonist Johnny Karas to the lineup, a musician who would prove central to later achievements.

Recognition expanded in the mid-1980s after the Grammys created the Best Polka Album category in 1985. Sturr claimed the second award given, for 1986’s I Remember Warsaw, and followed with five more consecutive victories through 1991 on Polka Just for Me, Born to Polka, All in My Love for You, When It’s Polka Time at Your House, and Live at Gilley’s. During this period he recorded for Vanguard and maintained a demanding schedule of casino, cruise, festival, and venue dates nationwide. In the early 1990s he moved to Rounder and reclaimed Grammy attention with the 1995 winner I Love to Polka, initiating another four-album streak that benefited from the label’s wider reach and roster of guest artists. Country veteran Willie Nelson joined 1996’s Polka! All the Time alongside Cajun accordionist Jo-El Sonnier; 1997’s Living on Polka Time included Tex-Mex accordionist Flaco Jimenez, who would return on multiple projects, and country singer Bill Anderson; 1998’s Dance With Me, officially Sturr’s 100th release, featured the Oak Ridge Boys. He became the first polka musician to appear at the Grand Ole Opry, performed at both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and presented a well-received concert at Warsaw’s Palace of Culture. Induction into the Polka Music Hall of Fame followed, and in 1998 he acquired Billy Ray Cyrus’s former tour bus.

Entering the new century, Sturr reclaimed Grammy supremacy. 2000’s Touched by a Polka spotlighted country singer Mel Tillis; 2001’s Gone Polka reunited him with Willie Nelson and added Brenda Lee; 2002’s Top of the World showcased folk artist Arlo Guthrie and bluegrass vocalist Rhonda Vincent, who sang lead on the title track, a Carpenters cover. All three discs earned Grammys, bringing his total to 13. 2003’s Let’s Polka ’Round continued the guest roster with banjo player Béla Fleck, saxophonist Boots Randolph, and Charlie Daniels. In 2004 he revisited rock oldies on Rock ’N Polka, repeating the theme on 2005’s Shake, Rattle and Polka! A live recording and the studio set Polka in Paradise both appeared in 2006, followed by Come Share the Wine on Rounder in 2007.