Jim White writes the BlueNotes’ blog for the Pittsburg Post-Gazette and divides his time between Pittsburg and our The Burg. Here, repeated with his permission, is his report on our Boogie Woogie Blues Piano Stomp. For more check out:
First published Monday, Jan. 30: At the risk of repeating myself, BlueNotes has always been a sucker for the pulsating, pounding piano music — boogie woogie or blues, or even better, both.
And both is what happened Saturday night here in the sunny Burg (sorry chilly Burghers) of St. Pete, Fla., at the second annual Boogie Woogie Blues Piano Stomp in the Palladium Theater. It was their second event, and mine, too, as BlueNotes continues to operate out of his Winter Headquarters.
Bob Seeley
It was a night of more great piano music, with furiously flying fingers romping through sets by four players, and a finale that included everybody.
The headliner, as last year, was the great boogie master, the elfin Bob Seeley, 82, who learned his licks at the feet of the legendary Meade Lux Lewis. Seeley is probably the sole survivor of the music generated by players like Lewis, Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons and others.
Seeley worked his way through a set of boogie classics and put his own stamp on non-boogie tunes like “St. Louis Blues” (moving effortlessly between boogie and stride), “Amazing Grace” (a wild and spiritual ride) and “Sing, Sing, Sing,” where his left hand was Louis Prima and his right hand, Benny Goodman.
He also featured “Boogie Woogie Dream,” from the song and 1944 short film that starred Lena Horne with Ammons and Johnson in a rollicking piano duet that’s still sets a boogie-woogie standard.
Seeley has chops to spare, but if you can have a delicate touch with boogie woogie, he does. He plays, rather than pounds. Although, as you’ll see later, there’s nothing wrong with the right kind of pounding.
And the right kind of pounding is probably the best way to describe the rocking boogie and blues of Bronx native and now Los Angelean, Rob Rio, who plays wicked piano boogie laced with rock and blues, and shouts a mean blues himself.
Rob Rio
Rio came out swinging, and pounding, with “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie,” which he heralded as the first mention of boogie woogie music on record, from 1928.
Incidentally, the song’s composer, Pinetop Smith, spent most of the 1920s in Pittsburgh, before moving on to Chicago.
Then he lit into a churning “Honky Tonk Train Blues,” and followed with a deliciously salacious “Chiropractor Blues” and a sentimental romp through “Valentine’s Blues.” He also offered a very unusual bluesy piano version of “Stavin’ Chain.”
Rio was a pleasant surprise — a powerful player who knows his stuff and has a lot of fun with it. I liked his gold suit, too.
Also on the bill was Joe Krown, a New Orleans piano guy who provided a slightly different flavor, working in the piano magic of Professor Longhair’s “Tipitina” and the incredibly unique work of James Booker. He offered a little less boogie, but a lot of classic N’awlins piano that fit right in.
Krown offered a very tasty piano version of “St. James Infirmary,” and closed with a medley of Longhair songs.
The opening act for the night was St. Pete’s boogies ‘n’ blues piano lady Liz Pennock, who was responsible for the concert concept, with guitarist/husband, Dr. Blues. Liz (an Ohio native) is a first-rate boogie piano master herself, and adds a lot of blues on the side.
Pennock opened with her original “Six Finger Boogie” (she was born with three fingers on each hand), and she and Doc worked their way through their own material — “Boogie Woogie Staircase,” “Taxi Driving Woman” and “Blues Loving Woman,” plus a few lessons on how the left hand drives the boogie piano.
Everyone got together for a blazing finale, paired off at the two Baby Grand pianos on stage, trading licks and places on the benches. It’s great to know that there are some great players still out there, keeping this classic music alive.
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