Hall of Fame

Kevin Adams is an accomplished musician, composer, producer and recording artist, having recorded on Trumpet, Clarinet, Guitar and Piano. His work is featured on over 40 recordings of which 11 have received Grammy® nominations from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. Kevin has been performing polka music across the country for nearly 40 years with numerous nationally touring polka bands including lengthy stints of extensive road work with the band of IPA Hall of Famers Dick Pillar, Eddie Blazonczyk and Lenny Gomulka. Other bands that he has played or recorded with include IPA Hall of Famers Joe Czerniak and Eddie Skinger as well as the Swinging Brass, Dobosenski Brothers and the Cavaliers, Brass Dimension, Pete Shalins and the Michigan Connection.

Billy Belina has spent a major part of his life playing and promoting polka music. Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1947, Billy has his parents to thank for much of his success in the polka industry. In his early years, Billy often joined his parents on the two-hour drive to Connecticut to watch the local polka bands. He endeared himself to accordion greats such as Ray Henry and Al Soyka and soon desired to try the instrument on his own. At the age of eight, Billy convinced his parents to buy him his first accordion and sign him up for lessons. By his mid-teens, Billy's practice and dedication began to pay off as he started a band of his own, known as the BelAirs.

Eddie was born in Toledo, Ohio to a musical family.  Mother Gina is a trained clarinetist and vocalist while father, Dionysius "Danny" Biegaj played trumpet and sang.  With the help of "Busia" Helen (his maternal grandmother) at a young age Eddie started his love for polka and Polish culture and heritage by singing along to the 78 RPMs and 45's of such greats as Frank Wojnarowski, the "Connecticut Twins" and "The Naturals".  He started formal training on drums in 2nd grade.

Eddie Blazonczyk was a native Chicagoan, son of Fred and Antoinette Blazonczyk, who for years operated the Pulaski Village Ballroom and later the Club Antoinette in Chicago. Eddie started playing polkas in the early fifties with a four-piece combo known as "Happy Eddie and his Polka Jesters." They performed at many Polish weddings, anniversaries and other engagements in Chicagoland.

Mollie Busta Lange, commonly known as "Mollie B," has been active in the polka industry her entire life. She began at age three on vocals with the Jim Busta Band, and to date, has performed in 35 states and eleven countries in addition to appearing on over 35 recordings. Always involving polka music, Mollie has been an educator and role model through her performances, dance lessons, and school workshops.

Since his birth November 17, 1933, Larry Chesky has resided in Holyoke, Massachusetts.  Thanks to his parents, Wanda and Joe, Larry was introduced to music at the age of six.  He was given his first accordion.  Whenever you saw Larry, you saw that accordion.  They were inseparable.  With the help of his father, Joe, Larry's first band, "The Polka Dots," was formed when he was twelve years old.  After its first regional radio broadcast, the popularity of the group soared.  Larry changed the group's name to "Larry's Polka Dots".

Michael Costa was born on July 5, 1961 to William and Phyllis Costa of Irvington, NJ. He is the first born of two children. His parents met in the mid 50's at the Irvington Polish Home where weekly polka dancing was extremely popular. As their children grew, they were exposed to Chicago-style polkas at the Dover Polanka in Dover, NJ. Michael's Dad, played bass and guitar with local bands. Growing up in a home filled with polka music and musical instruments, it was the trumpet Michael gravitated to. Lessons began at the age of 7.

In his youth, Jan Cyman was an avid boy scout in his home-town of Buffalo, New York. He also was first music chair at his high school. The year was 1965, Buffalo, New York. Fifteen-year-old Jan Cyman played the trumpet in school. A couple of good friends, Larry Trojak and Whitey Ryniec, wanted to start a polka band, but Cyman had no idea what polka music was. They brought him to see polka bands in the area so he could get a feel for the style of music. Shortly after, they became the Dynatones.

She was known in the polka field for her song hits "Wishing Well Waltz" and "Violins Play For Me"; but she was also known in the radio and stage field as a radio announcer, operatic and concert singer and a comedienne.  Gifted with a great voice and acting talent, she used her abilities well. A soloist in the Midwest and San Carlo Opera Company, she sang in "Il Travatore," "Hansel and Gretel," "Barber of Seville," and other operas.  She frequently appeared in Grant Park concerts and did summer stock for two seasons at Music in the Round in Skokie in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."  She was an accomplished character actress and singer and her specialty was comedy.  Her appearances took her to Toledo, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, and Canada.

Li'l Wally has been one of the most important and influential polka musicians in America. He was responsible for creating the Chicago-style polka, a slower, more danceable, more improvisational sound, whose core appeal lay with Polish-Americans.