ABOUT
THE MUSIC
The music has been called a lot of things – blues, jazz, boogie woogie, swing, stride, ragtime, R & B, rock and roll among them. The basic elements are rhythm, improvisation and syncopation over a blues form. Baldori and Migliazza (and some times Bob Seeley and Martin Schmitt) play a riveting concert of American piano music that has been thrilling audiences all over the world. The sample listing below gives an indication of the many prestigious venues where they have thrilled sold out audiences.
Using a very singular approach to classic American piano music, Bob Baldori has developed a repertoire for piano that embodies the genius of an entire culture. With roots in dance, the material stretches from the end of the Civil War to today and shows how his contemporary performances are connected to origins in the 19th Century. At the same time, the performances make it obvious that this music is still alive, original, timely, powerful and still thrilling to audiences all over the world.
BOB BALDORI & FRIENDS
Volume up to hear Bob Baldori in his own words.
Boogie Bob Baldori is a longstanding figurehead in the musical genres of blues, boogie, and rock in the midwest with extensive musical skills and knowledge. Starting at an early age, he studied under Wayne State University’s Jazz Studies chair Matt Michaels. Growing up in Dearborn, MI, Boogie Bob immediately connected with the explosion of rock and roll, and all of the musical genre that gave birth to it. Theses genres included blues, boogie, rhythm and blues, swing, stride and gospel.
The general public got a taste of Bob in the late sixties when his group, The Woolies, a Detroit band, released a national hit “Who Do You Love?”. Almost immediately, he connected with rock icon Chuck Berry and started a relationship that lasted over 50 years. Bob toured for decades with Charles, and recorded two full length albums with Berry. In addition to Berry, Boogie Bob has worked and recorded with many other blues and rock legends, playing piano and harmonica. They include Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Luther Allison, Del Shannon, John Hammond, Tom Rush, Hubert Sumlin and Bo Diddley. He has performed hundreds of dates in venues from Detroit to Chicago, Moscow to Rio, LA to New York to the White House for President Clinton.
Boogie Bob, being just as prolific in the studio as he is live, has produced and engineered over 200 albums. He also wrote and starred in Almost Famous, a rock/musical that was performed notable locations such as Michigan State University’s Warton Center for Performing Arts and the Apollo Theatre in Chicago. More recently, he starred at off-Broadway at The Elektra Theatre in Times square in the critically acclaimed musical BOOGIE STOMP! which played for 5 months to rave NYC reviews. He also wrote and directed the award winning documentary BOOGIE STOMP! He continues to tour the world with keyboard wizard Arthur Migliazza. Bob currently resides in Okemos, MI.
Award-winning Blues and boogie-woogie pianist Arthur Migliazza began playing the piano professionally at the age of 13. It was through his love of blues music and his dedication to the piano that he came under the wing of mentors/teachers such as Henry Butler, Ann Rabson, and Mr. B.
Arthur has been inducted into the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame, was a finalist at the 2010 and 2014 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN, and in his 20+ years of performing has been privileged to play on some of the world’s greatest stages, including Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow as part of the sold out Kings of Boogie Tour, the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, as well as on National Public Radio in the US.
In 2014 he received the Best of the Blues Award for Best Keyboardist in Washington State and his latest album, Laying It Down, resided at #1 on the Roots Music Report charts for Washington State for the summer of 2014, and reached #20 on the national chart. Laying It Down also appeared on the GRAMMY Entry List for the 2015 Grammy award nominations.
As a star of the critically acclaimed Off Broadway show BOOGIE STOMP!, Arthur performed at the Elektra Theater in Times Square, NYC for five months in 2015. His first instructional book, considered by many to be a benchmark in blues and boogie woogie piano instruction, is entitled How to Play Boogie Woogie Piano and is now available for purchase worldwide through publisher Hal Leonard.
Arthur currently resides in New York City.
PRESS & Reviews
Here Are Just a Few of the Rave Reviews for Boogie Bob & His Friends
