Arthur Migliazza-Shake Your Boogie Woogie
Arthur Migliazza - Shake Your Boogie Woogie
(January 17, 2025 7:00pm)
The award-winning blues and Boogie Woogie pianist returns with more of the music that leaves
you tapping your toes and leaving the theater happy.
Arthur Migliazza didn’t begin studying the piano until he was 13, learning the usual chords and
pieces that beginners study, and he was fortunate that his teacher exposed him to many
different kinds of music. “One of the things my first teachers exposed me to was the blues,” he
said in an interview. “I had a kid’s book of blues and jazz and it was kind of Boogie Woogie, with
the left hand repeating the bass and the right hand the chords. I really liked that. I had old
recordings and the emotion and style was easy for me to understand. With the left hand
playing the bass, you get on autopilot so the right hand can operate independently for chords
and licks.”
Migliazza eventually had the opportunity to study with teachers and mentors Henry Butler, Ann
Rabson and Mr. B. Born. He lived in Arizona for many years and felt that Tucson had a pretty
good blues scene. They admired him, as well, and in 2014, he was inducted into the Arizona
Blues Hall of Fame. He was also celebrated in Washington State, where he lived for several
years, giving him the 2014 Best of the Blues Award for Best Keyboardist in the state. He was
also a finalist in 2010 and 2014 for the prestigious International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
In 2015, Migliazza had the opportunity to perform off-Broadway in the show Boogie
Stomp! which he still takes around the country. “It was a two-piano show,” he said. “It was me
and a guy, Bobby, who had played for Chuck Berry for 50 years. He wrote the narrative about
the origins of the blues. It ran for four months and was really cool. He had been doing it on the
road with an older gentleman who didn’t want to stay on the road and he found me.”
They took the show to Russia on behalf of the U.S. and played throughout the country,
including in Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. “The Russians love Boogie Woogie,” he said. “We tend
to come up with the cool stuff in America, but then (our tastes) move on.”
For his solo show at The Lyric, he will follow a similar format to Boogie Stomp! but with one
piano. “I’ll tell the history of Boogie Woogie piano and stories about the origins and the
players,” he said. “There will be jokes woven in. It’s kind of a musical tour. I sing and play and
the audience gets to know me a little better. I guarantee they haven’t seen anything like it
because not that many people are doing this music in the authentic way. I have a personal
style, but I stay true to the elements that made it great in the first place. It’s not just banging
away, it’s the subtleties of the music, the story-telling, the playing in the groove. Even if they
think they know what they’re going to see, I think it won’t be what they’re expecting. I think
they’ll be happy.”
(January 17, 2025 7:00pm)
The award-winning blues and Boogie Woogie pianist returns with more of the music that leaves
you tapping your toes and leaving the theater happy.
Arthur Migliazza didn’t begin studying the piano until he was 13, learning the usual chords and
pieces that beginners study, and he was fortunate that his teacher exposed him to many
different kinds of music. “One of the things my first teachers exposed me to was the blues,” he
said in an interview. “I had a kid’s book of blues and jazz and it was kind of Boogie Woogie, with
the left hand repeating the bass and the right hand the chords. I really liked that. I had old
recordings and the emotion and style was easy for me to understand. With the left hand
playing the bass, you get on autopilot so the right hand can operate independently for chords
and licks.”
Migliazza eventually had the opportunity to study with teachers and mentors Henry Butler, Ann
Rabson and Mr. B. Born. He lived in Arizona for many years and felt that Tucson had a pretty
good blues scene. They admired him, as well, and in 2014, he was inducted into the Arizona
Blues Hall of Fame. He was also celebrated in Washington State, where he lived for several
years, giving him the 2014 Best of the Blues Award for Best Keyboardist in the state. He was
also a finalist in 2010 and 2014 for the prestigious International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
In 2015, Migliazza had the opportunity to perform off-Broadway in the show Boogie
Stomp! which he still takes around the country. “It was a two-piano show,” he said. “It was me
and a guy, Bobby, who had played for Chuck Berry for 50 years. He wrote the narrative about
the origins of the blues. It ran for four months and was really cool. He had been doing it on the
road with an older gentleman who didn’t want to stay on the road and he found me.”
They took the show to Russia on behalf of the U.S. and played throughout the country,
including in Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. “The Russians love Boogie Woogie,” he said. “We tend
to come up with the cool stuff in America, but then (our tastes) move on.”
For his solo show at The Lyric, he will follow a similar format to Boogie Stomp! but with one
piano. “I’ll tell the history of Boogie Woogie piano and stories about the origins and the
players,” he said. “There will be jokes woven in. It’s kind of a musical tour. I sing and play and
the audience gets to know me a little better. I guarantee they haven’t seen anything like it
because not that many people are doing this music in the authentic way. I have a personal
style, but I stay true to the elements that made it great in the first place. It’s not just banging
away, it’s the subtleties of the music, the story-telling, the playing in the groove. Even if they
think they know what they’re going to see, I think it won’t be what they’re expecting. I think
they’ll be happy.”
