Rod Piazza
Rod Piazza (born December 18, 1947 , Riverside , California ) is an American blues harmonica player.
Life
He first came into contact with the blues at the age of seven when he heard the recordings that his brothers, who were 10 years and 12 years older, brought home with them ( Jimmy Reed , Big Joe Turner ...). His first musical instrument was a $ 4 guitar that his mother bought him. In 1963 he received his first harmonica, with which he reenacted numbers by Slim Harpo , Buster Brown and Jimmy Reed that he heard on the radio.
Around 1965 he played in his first band, "The Mystics", originally he was supposed to be the guitarist, but during the first rehearsals it turned out that there were others who played the guitar better. So he became a member of the band as a harmonica player and singer. The group played at parties and later moved to Los Angeles where they performed on the local club scene. There they were discovered and signed to ABC Bluesway. They called themselves "The Dirty Blues Band" now. When some band members were drafted into the Vietnam War, the band broke up.
With his new band Bacon Fat he made the acquaintance of George "Harmonica" Smith . Bacon Fat recorded two LPs. From 1974 he worked solo, then he founded the Chicago Flying Saucer Band, from which the Mighty Flyers emerged. One of the founding members was Debra "Honey" Solum, whom he married a few years later. He's still on the road with the Mighty Flyers today.
After a decade and four studio albums on Delta Groove Records ( For the Chosen Who , Thrillville , Soul Monster and Almighty Dollar ), Piazza returned to the Blind Pig label for Emergency Situation (2014). In addition to the regular cast , Norm Gonzales (bass) and saxophonists Ron Dziubla and Jim Jedikin play on it . The title song states that Piazza sees his blues band in economic distress, as neither the clubs nor the festivals paid enough fees. Only the cruise commitments made an exception.
Cast (2007)
- Rod Piazza - vocals & harmonica
- Honey Piazza - piano & thunder bass
- Henry Carvajal - guitar
- Dave Kida - drums
Discography
Before the Mighty Flyers
- 1967: Dirty Blues Band / Dirty Blues Band (ABC- Bluesway )
- 1969: Dirty Blues Band / Stone Dirt (ABC- Bluesway )
- 1970: Bacon Fat / Grease One for Me (Blue Horizon)
- 1971: Bacon Fat / Tough Dude (Blue Horizon)
- 1973: Rod Piazza / Blues Man (LMI)
- 1979: Chicago Flying Saucer Band / Flying Saucer Band (Gangster)
The Mighty Flyers
- 1980: Radioactive Material (Right Hemisphere)
- 1981: The Mighty Flyers (Right Hemisphere)
- 1982: Robot Woman II (Shanghai)
- 1984: From the Start to the Finnish (Right Hemisphere)
- 1985: File Under Rock (Takoma)
- 1985: Harp Burn (Murray Brothers; Rod Piazza solo)
- 1988: So Glad to Have the Blues (Murray Brothers; Rod Piazza solo)
- 1991: Blues in the Dark ( Black Top Records )
- 1992: Alphabet Blues (Black Top)
- 1992: The Essential Collection (Hightone Records)
- 1994: Live at BB King's Club (Big Mo)
- 1997: Tough and Tender (Tone-Cool)
- 1997: California Blues (Black Top)
- 1998: Vintage Live: 1975 (Tone-Cool) with Hollywood Fats
- 1999: Here and Now (Tone-Cool)
- 2001: Beyond The Source (Tone-Cool)
- 2003: Modern Master: The Best of Rod Piazza (Tone- Cool)
- 2004: Keepin 'It Real (Blind Pig)
- 2005: For The Chosen Who (Delta Groove)
- 2005: For the Chosen Who (CD + Bonus DVD)
- 2007: Thrillville (Delta Groove)
- 2008: Alphabet Blues (Hepcat Records)
- 2009: Soul Monster (Delta Groove)
- 2014: Emergency Situation (Blind Pig)
Web links
- Rod Piazza and The Mighty Flyers website ( April 14, 2015 memento on the Internet Archive )
- Pepe Ahlquist & Rod Piazza California Boogie
supporting documents
- ↑ Roger Gatchet's review of Emergency Situation (Blind Pig - BPCD 5160) for Living Blues from December 2014
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Piazza, Rod |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American blues harmonica player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 18, 1947 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Riverside , California |