Formed by Rafał Łuc (accordion) and Ian Anderson (viola), who met as students at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Since recently, Rafał Zalech has taken over as the duo’s violist. The name comes from the late Don van Vliet, better known by his avant-garde rock persona, Captain Beefheart. 

The ensemble’s members dedicate themselves to exploring their possibilities as a duo, expanding the viola and accordion repertoire with commissions for new experimental versions of Captain Beefheart songs. Their debut album, Lachrymae ReVisited (Orchid Classics), was shortlisted for Recording of the Year at the 2018 New Music Scotland Awards. Other successes include the Polish premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas’s Double Concerto for viola, accordion and chamber ensemble with the OMN New Music Orchestra in Katowice and the duo’s recital at St Magnus Festival, Orkney, recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The duo has commissioned new works notably from Rafał Augustyn, Nikolet Burzyńska, Cezary Duchnowski, Mikołaj Laskowski, Paweł Malinowski, Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil, Adam Porębski, Marta Śniady, Piotr Tabakiernik, Andrew Thomas, and Rafał Zapała.