ROD PIAZZA & THE MIGHTY FLIERS

Emergency Situation

Blind Pig Records

By Greg Easterling

Rod Piazza’s new 2014 Blind Pig release Emergency Situation spent plenty of time in my car stereo the last few weeks as I’ve driven around Chicago dealing with my own personal emergency situation. Along with some classic Allmans and Buddy Guy’s latest, Emergency Situation mirrors my own bluesy state musically with Piazza’s appealing blend of classic Chicago blues and postwar West Coast jump, swing and R&B.   

Not that Piazza’s emergency situation is the same as my own because it really isn’t. The emergency which Piazza describes is his perceived decline in the number of clubs that book quality acts like Piazza and his longtime band The Mighty Flyers.  In a manner not unlike the way John Mayall has dealt lyrically with more contemporary concerns,  Piazza laments the passing of an era nationally when jazz and blues clubs were a more important part of local night life. Here in Chicago of course, we are still blessed with a number of great venues in the city such as Buddy Guy’s, Kingston Mines, Rosa’s, Blue Chicago and B.L.U.E.S. While out in the suburbs, places like Evanston’s SPACE, FitzGerald’s, Harlem Avenue Lounge, Mac’s On Slade in Palatine, and The Alley in Highwood feature blues on a regular basis.

Piazza’s song selection for Emergency Situation also reveals something about the artist. Other than the three original songs including the title track and two instrumentals, Piazza has chosen a variety of lesser known but no less deserving blues numbers originally by Jimmy Rogers, Sam Myers and Amos Milburn. Instead of a more familiar Rogers song such as “Walking By Myself,” Piazza digs deep for “Tricky Woman”. Better known is Piazza’s choice cover of Myers’ “Sleeping In The Ground” a personal fave which Sam once performed with Anson Funderburgh, also covered by Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood on their landmark 2009 tour. Piazza also reaches southward to New Orleans for a lively version of Lee Dorsey’s “Ya Ya”, with lead vocals by guitarist Henry Carvajal.

A native of California, Piazza has been on the blues scene since 1965 when he formed the Dirty Blues Band in Los Angeles at the age of 18. They cut two records including a 1968 release for ABC/Bluesway, a label which also recorded B.B. King and John Lee Hooker. Piazza was also gigging with blues luminaries such as Big Mama Thornton, Big Joe Turner and T-Bone Walker. That great early start led to his twin blues harp collaboration with Muddy Waters’ onetime harpist, George “Harmonica” Smith in the band Bacon Fat for two albums in 1969-70. By 1980, Piazza was recording under the Mighty Flyers monicker with albums for the Black Top label.  He’s been recording for Blind Pig since 2004.

The Mighty Flyers lineup is distinguished by the presence of Rod’s wife Honey who plays piano in the band. She’s been playing with Rod since 1973 when he hired her, impressed by her assimilation of the classic blues keyboard stylings of Chicago blues giant Otis Spann.  The current edition of the band is rounded out by Henry Carvajal on guitar, David Kida on drums and Norm Gonzales on bass.

Rod’s mastery of the blues harp is the obvious focal point of any Mighty Flyers’ recording and has made him a blues harmonica talent with which to be reckoned. His style owes much to the classic 1950s Chicago blues style of legendary figures such as Little Walter Jacobs and Sonny Boy Williamson, carried on by Big Walter Horton and Junior Wells. Yet there’s also the influence of the West Coast cool sound passed along in postwar jump blues and jazz. There’s the roughness of the pioneering Chicago electric sound crossed with the more mellow cool sound of the West Coast where Rod actually grew up.

This is Piazza’s third effort for the respected Blind Pig blues label based in San Francisco and Chicago. He made his label debut in 2004 with Keepin’ It Real, an acclaimed effort.  The following year, Blind Pig released a live DVD of the Mighty Flyers, Big Blues Party, a full length concert of the band’s live heat. Both efforts drew praise from publications such as Living Blues, Billboard, and Vintage Guitar.

Emergency Situation puts the emphasis on the blues, both its past and hopes for its future survival.  With seasoned middle-aged performers such as Piazza now carrying the torch and supporting the efforts of younger blues artists such as Gary Clark, Jr., and Shemekia Copeland, there’s reason to believe that Emergency Situation will be a wake up call and not a benediction for the Blues.

Greg Easterling hosts the 12 midnight – 5 a.m. shift on WDRV (97.1 FM) He also hosts American Backroads on WDCB (90.9 FM).

 ###