David Maxwell’s Three Generations of Boogie Woogie and Blues Piano

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David Maxwell's Three Generations of Boogie Woogie and Blues Piano, with Chase Garrett, Scott Staton and David Maxwell. Saturday, October 18, 7:30 pm. Tickets: $20. Regattabar at the Charles Hotel, One Bennett Street, Cambridge. David Maxwell, hailed as one of the finest piano players alive, curates a night of "Boogie Woogie and Blues Piano" with his peers Scott Staton and Chase Garrett. Each will play their own set, and then they'll pair off for some duets. That amounts to a whole lot of Boogie Woogie in one night!

Further background information:

David Maxwell has amassed an enormous resume throughout the years playing piano with some of the greatest and well-known musicians in the blues. Maxwell plays many styles of blues, jazz and improvised music, but he is best known for his soulful virtuosity and unmatched ability to reach the heart of post-war Chicago Blues. He is often compared to the great blues pianist Otis Spann (of the Muddy Waters band), for his ability to resurrect the spirit and sound of the master of post-war Chicago Blues Piano. But Maxwell is no mere imitation. He has created a style and sound uniquely his own. His diverse experience, technical virtuosity, sense of timing and rhythm, and ability to complement other band members has earned Maxwell a reputation as one of the finest blues pianists alive.

Maxwell took part in James Cotton's 1997 Grammy winning album "Deep In The Blues" and also contributed a solo piano piece to a Fred MacDowell tribute album that was nominated for a Grammy. Maxwell has 14 WC Handy Blues Music Award nominations. His album "You Got To Move, " featuring the late Louisiana Red, won the 2011Acoustic Album of the Year BMA award, and in 2012, his CD "Conversations in Blue, " a collaboration with one of Otis Spann's records, won the same award. His other nominations were for the "Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year." Maxwell has played with many of the greats including John Lee Hooker, Freddie King, Bonnie Raitt, James Cotton, Otis Rush, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Rodgers, Charley Musselwhite, Johnny Adams and Ronnie Earl; and gigs with Muddy Waters (replacing the ailing Otis Spann one night), The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Levon Helm, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulsom, Junior Wells and many others. He has been involved in dozens of recording sessions and can be found playing keys on many blues albums that have been released over the last 40 years. Maxwell backed up Keith Richards and Eric Clapton for Hubert Sumlin's CD "About Them Shoes" released in 2005. His latest album "Blues In Other Colors" (Blue Duchess) features the mohan veena player, Harry Manx and other musicians blending in Indian, Moroccan, Turkish and African influences with the blues. The album received high critical acclaim. www.davidmaxwell.com

Scott Staton, a multi-media artist and producer has been involved in the New York music, art and animation scene since the 1970's. His credits include working for 17 years with Denny Leroux and the Peter Duchin Orchestra, performing with Skitch Henderson and the N.Y. POPS at Carnegie Hall in New York City and playing keyboards with artists such as blues greats Danny Kalb of the Blues Project, the legendary Charlie Musselwhite and Roomful of Blues. He has composed scores for the Weston Woods short film "The Caterpillar and the Polliwog, " the feature film "The Complete Beatles" and music for the live action CBS TV show "Felix The Cat." He has designed CD cover art for groups such as Finn and the Sharks, Jazzamataz and society bandleader Michael Carney's CD "Swing Hard, swing soft." Staton's animated short film "The Dead Battery" on the L.I.E was broadcast on the HBO and SHOWTIME cable networks for over 8 years. www.stoopiddaddyrecords.com/scottStaton.html

Chase Garrett, voted "Best Local Act" by the Daily Iowan in 2011, began playing piano at age nine and by seventeen was performing professionally across the U.S. In his travels he has shared the stage with some of today's most influential blues, boogie woogie and jazz pianists including Axel Zwingenberger, Michael Kaeshammer and James Goodwin. Having been heavily influenced by artists such as Oscar Peterson, Otis Spann and Meade "Lux" Lewis, his style has grown into a diverse mix of boogie woogie, blues and swing. Garrett has dedicated himself to the music and is as much of a performer as he is a preservationist, a teacher and producer. He has brought world class pianists to the Englert Theatre in Iowa City for his annual Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Stomp concert series and has taught piano at blues and swing festivals across the country. He is currently living in Boston and attending North Bennet Street School for Piano Technology. www.chasegarrett.com

"I don't think anybody could be tighter playing the blues on the piano
than David Maxwell. He plays the blues like it should be played.
He plays the low-down, dirty, funky blues. He's got it all together."
(John Lee Hooker)

[David Maxwell at Ottawa Blues Festival, 2013; photo credit: Martha Coughlan]

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