BOB SEELEY

Detroit, Michigan

 

 

    Bob Seeley is a piano player like Mickey Mantle was a ball player.  For more than 32 years, he was a fixture at the piano bar at Charlie's Crab in Troy, Michigan. It isn't just that he's an extraordinary pianist.  He's an indomitable soul who has played Carnegie Hall and most of the major venues throughout Europe, and is universally hailed as possibly the greatest proponent of boogie woogie and stride alive today.

 

    His most conspicuous influence was Meade Lux Lewis, one of the 3 giants of boogie woogie (with Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson), and a great friend of Seeley's. Art Tatum and Eubie Blake were also among Seeley's circle of friends and mutual fans. Well versed in classic blues, Seeley accompanied the great blues vocalist Sippie Wallace when she was rediscovered in the 1980s and nominated for a Grammy.

 

    Peter Silvester writes in his  book on the history of boogie woogie  A Left Hand Like God (1988), "[Seeley’s] solos are notable for their coherence and logical progression, which propels them to a satisfying climax.  Of all the contemporary pianists, Seeley reproduces the sound and spirit of Meade Lux Lewis with the most conviction and sometimes even surpasses the master."