Piano-pounding bandleader returns Sunday afternoon with jump blues, swing and Crescent City R&B

FOLSOM — Labor Day weekend will be filled with rhythm, soul and piano-driven boogie in Historic Folsom as Mitch Woods makes his return to Powerhouse Pub this Sunday for the venue’s weekly Powerhouse of Blues showcase. Fans of traditional blues with a modern New Orleans twist can expect an afternoon that captures both the roots and the spirit of America’s boogie-woogie legacy.

For more than three decades, Woods and his band, the Rocket 88s, have been torchbearers for the jump ’n’ boogie sounds of the late 1940s and early 1950s, breathing fresh life into the music that gave birth to rock ’n’ roll. Styled after the pumpin’ n’ poundin’ bands of Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris, Joe and Jimmy Liggins, Amos Milburn and Roy Milton—and spiked with a healthy dose of New Orleans rhythm and blues—Woods forged a signature he calls “rock-a-boogie.”

Born in Brooklyn in 1951, Woods began classical piano at age eleven, but his initiation into blues and boogie arrived even earlier. “My mom would hire this superintendent of the building, a black man, Mr. Brown, to take me to school, and we stopped off at his cousin’s house, where somebody was playing boogie-woogie piano. It really hit me,” he recalled. By his mid-teens he was assembling bands in Greenwich Village; at the University of Buffalo he sat in at clubs and dug into recordings by Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson.

Woods moved to San Francisco in 1970 and spent the next five years performing as Mitch Woods and His Red Hot Mama with singer Gracie Glassman. Oakland guitarist Hi Tide Harris heard Woods opening for Charlie Musselwhite and heard echoes of early R&B pioneer Louis Jordan. Woods would later see Jordan live in Oakland and take to heart his compact, hard-hitting approach: “He was the bridge between swing and rock and roll. He would do a five or six piece band, get a lot of power out of that.”

That compact power became the rallying cry for Mitch Woods and His Rocket 88s, formed in 1980 and quickly rising to the top of the Northern California club circuit. Their debut, Steady Date (Blind Pig Records), drew hot reviews in 1984 and led to slots at two San Francisco Blues Festivals and openings for the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Blasters, The Neville Brothers and James Brown. By 1987, Woods was touring six countries in Europe, highlighted by a rousing performance at the Belgium Rhythm and Blues Festival.

Mr. Boogie’s Back In Town (Blind Pig Records) followed in 1988, prompting Keyboard Magazine to note that Woods “lays down an authentic 50s-vintage rock piano groove, comparable in power and rhythmic nuance to classic recordings by the young Jerry Lee Lewis.” On 1991’s Solid Gold Cadillac, the Rocket 88s were joined by Ronnie Earl, Charlie Musselwhite and the Roomful of Blues horns. That same year Woods began turning up as a guest on new releases by John Lee Hooker and John Hammond, while headlining the Amsterdam Blues Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Woods’ evolution as a bandleader ran alongside his growth as a vocalist. “I’ll always consider myself a piano player, but my voice has developed over the last few years. It’s an incredible release, when you can sing, it’s like blowing an axe, and it’s great to entertain an audience,” he said. Another thread tugged hard, too: New Orleans. “New Orleans R&B piano playing, like Dr. John, of course Professor Longhair,” Woods said, noting how the city reveres the piano. Over the past 25 years, the Crescent City has become a second home; he has performed with players from Fats Domino’s band—including Red Tyler—along with drummer Johnny Vidakovich and bassist George Porter.

Shakin’ the Shack (Blind Pig Records) arrived in 1998, with Woods writing all but one track and showcasing how comfortably he injects new life into vintage forms. That same year he realized a dream with Keeper Of The Flame (Lightyear/WEA Records), pairing himself with giants like John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Johnnie Johnson, Earl King and Lee Allen on a run of classic tunes. Jump For Joy turned toward a Cab Calloway influence—six horns, an eleven-piece band with doubled lines—built to unite swing dancers and blues lovers alike.

His CD/DVD Big Easy Boogie brought the New Orleans story full circle. Featuring original members of the Fats Domino band—Herb Hardesty and the Blue Monday Horns—with Jimmy Moliere on guitar, the project channels the roots of Crescent City R&B in Woods’ joyful style, from pounding piano pumpers to moody late-night blues.

After reuniting the surviving members of Domino’s band during Jazz & Heritage Festival week, Woods filmed the live show and took the group into the studio. Released on Club 88 Records, Big Easy Boogie earned airplay on satellite and cable radio, including XM (No. 3 on Bluesville’s “picks to click”), Sirius, Music Choice and BBC 2.

That long, joyful arc lands back in Folsom this Sunday. The Powerhouse of Blues show begins at 3 p.m. All shows at Powerhouse are 21 and over. For tickets and more details, visit www.powerhousepub.com. To learn more about Mitch Woods, visit www.mitchwoods.com.

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