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Rod Piazza

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Instruments
  
Harmonica, vocals

Years active
  
1967–present


Name
  
Rod Piazza

Genres
  
Blues

Rod Piazza wwwharpsurgerycomwpcontentuploads201001Pia

Born
  
December 18, 1947 (age 76) Riverside, California, United States (
1947-12-18
)

Website
  
The Mighty Flyers' website

Role
  
Singer · themightyflyers.com

Albums
  
Vintage Live 1975, Harpburn, Bacon Fat: Grease One for Me, Soul Monster, California Blues, Almighty Dollar

Movies
  
Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers: Big Blues Party

Record labels
  
Delta Groove Productions, Black Top Records, BluesWay Records

Similar People
  
Honey Piazza, Johnny Dyer, Smokey Wilson, Jimmy Rogers, Pee Wee Crayton

Rod piazza the mighty flyers sierra center stage 2006


Rod Piazza (born December 18, 1947, Riverside, California) is an American blues harmonica player and singer. He has been playing with his band The Mighty Flyers since 1980 which he formed with his pianist wife Honey Piazza. Their boogie sound combines the styles of jump blues, West Coast blues and Chicago blues.

Contents

Rod piazza the mighty flyers southern lady 7 18 14


Biography

Piazza grew up in Southern California, where he studied blues records and perfected his harmonica work. He originally started on guitar, an instrument he began playing at the age of six or seven.

In the mid 1960s, Piazza formed his first band The House of DBS, which later changed its name to the Dirty Blues Band. The band signed with ABC-Bluesway and released two albums in 1967 and 1968. The band broke up in 1968, and Piazza formed Bacon Fat that year. Piazza's idol and mentor, George "Harmonica" Smith joined the band and they had a "dual harp" sound. Bacon Fat released two albums the following two years. Piazza left and worked in other bands before going solo in 1974.

He formed the Chicago Flying Saucer Band the following year, which later evolved into the Mighty Flyers. The band recorded their first album in 1980. Piazza started touring and recording as Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers Blues Quartet, after the departure of long-time bassist Bill Stuve in the early 2000s. Piazza has recorded twenty-four studio albums between 1967 and 2009, including the live concert DVD Big Blues Party in 2005 (recorded at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California). In addition, he has appeared as a guest performer on over twenty-one releases since 1968. Between 1995 and 2001, Rick Holmstrom played in the Mighty Flyers.

Piazza has toured blues clubs, concert venues and festivals in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Spain, among other countries. He and his wife currently live in Riverside, California.

Pre-Mighty Flyers Era

  • 1967 The Dirty Blues Band: The Dirty Blues Band (ABC-Bluesway)
  • 1969 The 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 The Chicago Flying Saucer Band: The Chicago Flying Saucer Band Featuring Rod Piazza (Gangster)
  • With The Mighty Flyers

  • 1981 Radioactive Material (Right Hemisphere)
  • 1982 Robot Woman II (Shanghai)
  • 1984 File Under Rock (Takoma)
  • 1985 From The Start To The Finnish (Right Hemisphere)
  • 1986 Harpburn (Murray Brothers; Rod Piazza solo album)
  • 1988 Undercover (Special Delivery)
  • 1988 So Glad To Have The Blues (Murray Brothers; Rod Piazza solo album)
  • 1991 Blues In The Dark (Black Top)
  • 1992 Alphabet Blues (Black Top)
  • 1994 Live At B.B. King's Blues Club (Big Mo)
  • 1997 Tough And Tender (Tone-Cool)
  • 1998 Vintage Live: 1975 (Tone-Cool)
  • 1999 Here And Now (Tone-Cool)
  • 2001 Beyond The Source (Tone-Cool)
  • 2004 Keepin' It Real (Blind Pig)
  • 2005 For The Chosen Who (Delta Groove) [CD+DVD]
  • 2007 Thrillville (Delta Groove)
  • 2009 Soul Monster (Delta Groove)
  • 2011 Almighty Dollar (Delta Groove)
  • 2014 Emergency Situation (Blind Pig)
  • Selected collections

  • 1969 Live At Small's Paradise (Blue Moon)
  • 1970 How Blue Can We Get? (Blue Horizon)
  • 1992 The Essential Collection (Hightone)
  • 1997 California Blues (Black Top)
  • 1998 Blues Joint (Easydisc/Rounder)
  • 2003 The Story of Tone-Cool, vol. 1 (Tone-Cool) [2CD]
  • 2003 Modern Master: The Best of Rod Piazza 1968-2003 (Tone-Cool) [2CD]
  • 2008 His Instrumentals (Piazza Publishing)
  • References

    Rod Piazza Wikipedia