Fred Kalisky

Fred Kalisky became enamored with the maracas on his very first trip to Mexico City and realized it was an instrument that could be successful in the Canadian market (his home since relocating from his native Poland after World War II). The same year, 1957, he formed his wholesale business and called it the Efkay Music Group. The company soon expanded following the Beatles boom of the early 1960s with Fred’s sharp idea to import electric guitars from Japan. Among those early brands was Ibanez, which the company continues to represent in the Canadian market today.