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.

Richard J. Bobinski was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, on January 18, 1939, to Mr. & Mrs. Robert Bobinski. Rich began playing the trumpet when he was about nine years old after seeing a Harry James movie. His first instructor was Polish and it wasn't long before he had Rich playing music from the instructor's collection of Polish music. He and his brother Bob started their own band shortly after they were out of high school and played at local weddings and clubs under the name of Bob Bobinski and His Orchestra. Around 1955 they changed the name to Bob & Rich & the Harmony Kings Orchestra. They made a couple of connections and started to travel. Their first job on the road was in Prospect Hill in Brooklyn, New York, and from then on, the road trips kept coming.

Having been raised in an ethnic community in Niagara Falls, New York undoubtedly had something to do with Freddie Bulinski's early exposure to and fascination with Polka music. He was born February 5, 1947 to Fred and Martha Bulinski, the eldest of three children. His sister, Suzanne is administrative head of the Emergency Department at Rochester General Hospital; and his brother Dan is a Colonel in the U.S. Army, serving as the Professor of Military Science at William & Mary College. Freddie attended St. Stanislaus Kostka parochial school followed by Bishop Duffy High School and graduated from Niagara University with a degree in Russian History.

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.

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.

Wally Dombrowski's journey into music began when he started taking trumpet lessons at five years of age. Once he got the basics of the instrument down, it was evident that he could play by ear and would play along with recordings at home without the aid of any written music. His perfect pitch assisted him in teaching himself how to play concertina at the age of six. At the age of nine, Wally's brother Rich organized the Polka Country Musicians and the band started performing at local functions around Connecticut in September, 1977.

Ray Dorschner was born in the tiny village of Ziattau, Wisconsin, one of seven children born to Theodore and Berta Dorschner. Theodore owned and operated a sawmill and woodworking business in Zittau and was an old-time fiddler. Dad and sons occasionally played for local parties and dances. Ray started playing button accordion at about five years of age and later switched to piano accordion. Ray attended elementary school in Zittau, high school in Winneconne, Wisconsin, and college at UW-Oshkosh in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He learned to play clarinet in high school and played in the high school band and the UW-Oshkosh band. While he was in high school, Ray and some friends formed a small band that played for weddings and other events in the area. The name of the group was The Jolly Musicians. He soon learned to play tenor sax, trumpet and tuba.

At the age of 12 Chet had a couple of neighbors that were musicians one played the clarinet, the other the accordion. Chet knew that if he purchased a trumpet he would be asked to join them. Chet's family couldn't afford to just purchase one for him outright, so he worked on a farm for two weeks which netted him $10 which was just enough to purchase that trumpet. Now he needed to take lessons, which were 75 cents. His family was often on a tight budget--and how many weren't--so after the necessities were taken care of, many of us didn't have too many 75 cents left over."

Happy Louie was born August 4, 1934 in Ware, Massachusetts.  His mother is Polish and living.  His father was French, and is deceased. At the age of nine, he played his first note on a Bugle and then changed to a B-flat Trumpet and has kept it up ever since.  Happy Louie attended the eight grades of St. Mary's Polish Grammar School in Ware, where he was taught to write and speak the Polish language.  In fact, his dad, for being French, living among Polish people, had a beautiful Polish vocabulary.