Off-Broadway Boogie

Baldori, better known as “Boogie” Bob, has carved out a career for himself in early rock ‘n’ roll. He was a founding member of the Woolies, an East Lansing band that scored a national hit in 1966 with its cover of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?” About the same time, the band booked a gig backing Chuck Berry for a run of gigs at the Dells in Haslett.

The collaboration led to a decades-long relationship between Berry and Baldori, with Baldori frequently touring with the rock ‘n’ roll legend and recording two albums with him on piano and harmonica.

Baldori’s list of musical collaborators reads like a who’s who of rock ‘n’ roll and blues royalty — he has performed or recorded with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Bo Diddley, just to name a few — and at 71, Baldori shows no signs of slowing down. The Okemos-based musician is preparing for a run of New York shows for his pet project, a piano duo show called “Boogie Stomp.”

“It’s pretty exciting, to say the least,” said Baldori. “We did a showcase run last year at a much smaller theater, and we generated enough interest from New York producers to put together this deal where we’re opening almost in Times Square.”

“Boogie Stomp” is a send-up to the great piano players of rock ‘n’ roll and its antecedent genres — stride, boogie woogie and rhythm & blues. But Baldori was quick to point out that the show is not a musical review of the genre’s greatest hits.

“We’re telling the story of the origins of contemporary music, and we’re part of a narrative,” said Baldori. “What we’re playing is what these guys would be playing if they were playing right now. We do acknowledge the roots and play some of the original canon, but one of the points we’re making is that the way we’re playing it and what we’re doing is just as alive and relevant now as it was way back when.”

The upcoming New York run of show starts in September and comprises 19 performances over the course of eight weeks at the Elektra Theatre. The theater is in what is now known as Theatre Row, a section of Manhattan just blocks away from Times Square. In the 1970s, the area was infamous for brothels and peepshow houses, but has since been reinvented as a bustling center of off-Broadway theater. Baldori is joined on this run of New York shows by Washington state-based pianist Arthur Migliazza.

“(Arthur is) a delight,” said Baldori. “He’s fun to work with, has great sense of humor and technically he’s off the charts. You’ll never see anyone better.”

Baldori began performing piano duo shows with Bob Seeley, a Detroit-based musician who played with Art Tatum and was a protégé of legendary pianist/composer Meade Lux Lewis. Baldori and Seeley took their duo show all over the world, including a tour of Russia in 2013.

“We sold out Tchaikovsky (Concert Hall in Moscow),” Baldori said. “We sold out five venues, all the way to Vladivostok. It was an overwhelming response. We even did a number with the Moiseyev Ballet.”

Through his tours with Seeley, Baldori met some of the world’s top rock ‘n’ roll piano players, including Migliazza.

“I met Arthur on that same type of festival tour,” Baldori said. “Arthur was the best young, up-and-coming player, and he and I fell into doing shows together. We had great chemistry, and I loved working with him.”

For Baldori, “Boogie Stomp” is more than just a stage show. It’s a multi-pronged project that celebrates the history of rock ‘n’ roll piano. He recorded an album of the same name with Seeley, and he is finishing up an album with Migliazza that he hopes to have ready for their New York opening. He has also produced a documentary, also named “Boogie Stomp,” that centers around Seeley and his contributions to the genre.

“The great body of this American piano music was created by anonymous geniuses, whose stories we will probably never know,” Baldori explained. “But then there are others, like Seeley. ‘Boogie Stomp’ was my first attempt to examine a master who is well known within the circle of people who know the genre but anonymous to the rest of the world.”

Baldori is also planning a follow up to the “Boogie Stomp” documentary. While he hasn’t finalized the subject of the next documentary, one musician stands out in his mind.

“Hubert Sumlin is revered as one of the greatest guitar players of all time,” Baldori said. “He played with Howlin’ Wolf for 20 years, and he played with Muddy Waters. He sort of invented the electric guitar, along with a handful of other people like Les Paul. But everyone who plays electric guitar and knows what they’re doing acknowledges Hubert. I worked with him for a while and did some shooting. Unfortunately, he passed away a couple years ago.”

A Greater Lansing native, Baldori is happy to call mid-Michigan home. While the hubs of the music industry are on the coasts, Baldori can’t imagine living anywhere else.

“I love it here, especially this time of year,” Baldori said. “It’s easy access for me. I’m in New York a lot, I’m in Toronto a lot, I’m in California occasionally and I’m in Chicago a lot. The location is actually central and terrific; I like to come back to it. It’s a pastoral, tranquil lifestyle. I’m a gardener. I went out and picked half a dozen zucchini this morning. You can’t do that in New York City."