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Rod Piazza and The Mighty Flyers

Easy Baby!

About Me

It's a common mistake to think of Rod Piazza as one of the young turks or new generation of the blues. But at this point in his career, Rod Piazza has been making records longer than his mentor George "Harmonica" Smith did, or Sonny Boy Williamson (either of them!) or Howlin' Wolf, or Muddy Waters. He's been a recording artist for more years than Little Walter was alive. Rod Piazza is a tried-an-true, dyed-in-the-wool blues veteran with credentials that are second to none.
From his first recordings as a leader in 1967 fronting The Dirty Blues Band, through his multiple W.C. Handy award winning releases with his current band, The Mighty Flyers, to his countless appearances both live and on record with the most revered names in the blues, Rod Piazza has established himself as one of the most influential living blues harp players. He's consistently surrounded himself with players who bring out the best he has to offer, and epitomize the very best in blues: fresh, swinging, tasteful, exciting and creative. The core of The Mighty Flyers has been together for over two decades, and developed the kind of musical telepathy that simply cannot exist without years of experience on the bandstand and in the studio. The Mighty Flyers are a well-oiled machine, with Piazza in the drivers seat.
Born in 1947, Piazza's infatuation with blues began at a time when many of the masters were still in their prime years, and in the mid 1960s when the first blues revival was picking up steam, he was in the thick of it. A decade later he had already released five albums, and was one of the leading lights of the West Coast Blues scene. In the early '70s he joined forces with Otis Spann disciple Honey Alexander (now his wife) on piano, and when they formed the Mighty Flyers in the early 1980s, his career really hit its stride.
Since then Piazza and the Mighty Flyers have played literally thousands of gigs in every corner of the globe, recorded over a dozen highly acclaimed releases, won or been nominated for almost every major award and honor that can be bestowed upon a blues band, and along the way virtually created a new style of blues. It was a combination of low-down Chicago grit, suave West Coast swing and jazz, and the rhythmic drive of the best early R&B and rock & roll. Quite simply, Rod Piazza and The Mighty Flyers are one of the best, most experienced, and most distinctive bands in blues today, and hard as it may be to believe, they're still getting better. Piazza has come into his own as a clever and imaginative songwriter, and his vocals have taken on a warmth and personality that can only be won with maturity and decades of experience.
It's not only the fans and music industry mavens who praise Piazza & The Mighty Flyers, some of the strongest words of admiration come from the harshest critics of all: fellow blues musicians. None other than B.B. King pointed to his opening act Piazza as the reason he was motivated to play a full hour over his contracted time at a European blues festival. Fifty years after the pioneers of modern blues enjoyed their days in the sun, blues fans are still talking about them with reverence. There can be little doubt that fifty years from now, blues fans will still be talking about Rod Piazza and The Mighty Flyers.
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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/10/2006
Band Website: themightyflyers.com/
Band Members:
Rod Piazza — Harp & Vocals
Honey Piazza — Piano
Henry Carvajal — Guitar
David Kida — Drums

Influences:
Photography: (C)2006 www.frankvigil.com All photos on this site are used with permission from Frank Vigil. You can check out more of Frank's photos of Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers and also other bands at www.pbase.com/frankvigil
This is the Official Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers fan created and maintained (with the bands permission) MySpace site.

Messages sent to this site do not go to the band.

Sounds Like:
We'll be featuring an older CD on this site along with the four songs from their latest CD. The older CD will occasionally be replaced with a different blast from the past. The four songs featured from their current album will also be rotated every few weeks or month or two, I will rotate one song off then a different one on. If you have any preferences as to which songs are rotated on just send me a message and let me know.
All of MFBQs available CDs and other items are available from their website which is linked from this page.
We'll return to having a previously released Rod Piazza CD in this space soon. For now, enjoy their latest release, ThrillVille!
ENJOY!!

Record Label: Delta Groove Music
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

History (Part 2)

So, it was still 1968 and Rod started a new band which would be the beginning of Bacon Fat. One night, Richard Innes and Rod went to see who they thought was Big Walter Horton at the Ash Grove in Ho...
Posted by Rod Piazza and The Mighty Flyers on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:01:00 PST

History (Part 1)

Rod Piazza was born on December 18, 1947. His musical career started at the very young age of 7 thanks to the records his older brothers brought home. His brothers were 10 and 12 years older than Ro...
Posted by Rod Piazza and The Mighty Flyers on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:55:00 PST

Honey Piazza Receives Nomination to Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of The Year

Honey Piazza has been nominated for the Pinetop Perkins Player of the Year!This is Honey's 12th nomination for this award and it's predecessor the W.C. Handy Blues Instrumentalist - Keyboards. Let's...
Posted by Rod Piazza and The Mighty Flyers on Sun, 17 Dec 2006 02:51:00 PST

The Mighty Flyers December/January Update

Hello....can you believe that another year has gone by already and we're already thinking deep into 2007!!! We just returned from a tour of Norway, Denmark, and our first time in Moscow (we've never ...
Posted by Rod Piazza and The Mighty Flyers on Sun, 17 Dec 2006 07:23:00 PST