There is an old joke in Ireland that defines a gentleman as someone who can play the accordion, but doesn’t.

That joke will be rightfully ignored this week as Ireland’s traditional-music maestro, Joe Burke, hits town. The king of the “box” — as the instrument is known in Ireland — brings his virtuosity from the Atlantic fringe to Russia for the first time. And for a nation that worships the accordion in its own folk idiom, a real treat is in store.

Burke remains true to the essence of his tradition — a living expression of a music echoing a people’s history.

His music displays crystal-clear virtuosity that can silence even the most raucous pub in awe. He has spellbound auditoriums across the world, playing with the likes of U.S. genius Art Van Damme, the father of accordion jazz.

Interwoven with his musical dexterity are the haunting echoes, heard perhaps most clearly in dramatic laments and airs that tell the stories of despair, hope and inspiration in Irish history through music. These “cadences of our history,” as Burke describes them, are an expression of the spirit in which a people defiantly danced and sang through adversity in hard times over centuries. They express deep emotion through a form of music that is the spiritual legacy of generations.

The Irish folk tradition has attracted interest from far and wide, and Moscow is no different.

Integral to Burke’s visit is local musician Yury Andreichuk, who sings and plays with Slua Si, an all-Russian traditional Irish group in Moscow. Andreichuk speaks Gaelic, learning through his immersion in Irish music.

“My interest came because this is a living tradition,” he said. “We in Russia are losing ours, it’s dying out in the villages. So I wanted to see how another country’s tradition has managed not just to survive, but to be a real living tradition today, and how we Russians can learn from that and do the same for our own.”

Andreichuk said the experiences and Russian and Irish peoples resonate with each other. “The mentality of the people is very similar. The humour is very similar,” he said. “People suffered wars, hunger and hardship, and music and dance were a good way to escape this. But more is known about the Irish tradition because perhaps the Irish are clever at selling this culture to the world, and the Russians are not,” he added with a wry — rather than envious — smile.

Andreichuk has been playing Irish music for more than a decade but made his first trip to Ireland in August, to attend the Fleadh Cheoil, an annual gathering of Irish musicians. An appearance on Irish radio gained Andreichuk some fame for his linguistic proficiency and a chance meeting with Burke led to the Irish legend’s trip to Moscow.

Burke didn’t need much persuasion, and on his trip will be accompanied, literally, by his wife Ann Conroy Burke, who is also one of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians.

“Russia has some of the greatest accordionists in the world — and I’ve heard some of their amazing music,” Burke said. “I’ve always had a great interest in Russian history and music, and am delighted to be visiting Moscow for the first time to tell the story of our people through our music. Music tells us everything about a people. And I’m looking forward to going to a country with some of the greatest box players in the world!”

Joe Burke plays Oct. 30 at Tochka, at the Celt Pub on Oct .31 and at the Moscow International House of Music on Nov. 1. All shows start at 7 p.m. Tochka, 6 Leninsky Prospekt. Metro Oktyabrskaya. 737-7666. Celt Pub, 84 Leningradskoye Shosse. Metro Rechnoi Vokzal. 712-1616. Moscow International House of Music, 59 Kosmodamianskaya Naberezhnaya, Bldg. 8. 730-1011. Mmdm.ru.