Piero Balleggi

Piero Balleggi

key, IT
Musician of Rock and Electronic

Piero Balleggi is considered one of the best and most popular Rock n’ Roll and Boogie Woogie pianists in Italy. He made his first step into the Italian music scene after joining Neon (10), one of the leading new wave groups of the 80’s, with whom Piero cut his first three albums. In 1985, he met English singer Andi Sex Gang of the Sex Gang Children, with whom he collaborated in two records: the first one on a duet with Andi, Dirty Roseanne, which has a Bowie’s, seventies-type atmosphere; and the second, "Arco Valley" which was produced by Mick Ronson, David Bowie’s guitar player. In 1987, Piero founded the Jack Daniel's Lovers, with whom he released the album “Stay out of jail”, co-produced by Piero himself and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos; they toured in Russia and played as supporting band for the Stray Cats at the Rolling Stones concert hall in Milan. They performed as special guests for two consecutive weeks on Renzo Arbore’s “International DOC club”, a national Italian television show. In 1992, under a new contract with WEA music, Perry released the cd “Per non crescere mai”. From ‘91 until ’94, he played with a rock n’ roll and jumpin’ jive group called the Jumpin' Shoes, another top-chart, fifties-style, Italian rock band. Alongside this band, he participated in the R 'n' R festival in England in 1992, and then collaborated on an album for Charlie Gracie, an Italian American pop singer who twice topped the music charts in the United States in the late 1950’s. ----- Piero Balleggi alias Perry Boogie, pianista e cantante da Bologna, tra i maggiori esponenti del boogie woogie piano in Italia. Nella sua pluridecennale carriera lavora con grandissimi artisti internazionali, fra i quali Mick Ronson (chitarrista di Bowie), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Lee Allen (sax di Fats Domino e Little Richard), Dave Alvin (Blasters). Nel 1987 fonda la propria rock'n'roll band, i Jack Daniel's Lovers, coi quali partecipa spesso ai programmi di Renzo Arbore e raggiunge un secondo posto a Il canzoniere dell'estate su Rai Uno. Perry dagli anni ’90 suona con alcune fra le più grandi star mondiali del rock'n'roll come Janis Martin, Little Tony, Charlie Gracie, Candye Kane. Ha preso spesso parte al Summer Jamboree di Senigallia accompagnando artisti come Tommy Sands e Johnny Farina (Santo & Johnny). Nel 2017 prende parte ad un nuovo progetto interamente emiliano-romagnolo basato sul rhythm'n'blues degli anni '50, Martini and the Olives. Sempre nello stesso anno accompagna Gina Haley e Slim Jim Phantom all'interno del Route 66 Festival di Aarburg insieme alla Di Maggio Connection. Nel 2018 accompagna al piano Gizzelle e Robert Gordon insieme al trio Di Maggio Connection al festival Rock This Town di Solothurn nella Svizzera Tedesca. Il suo stile pianistico si ispira a leggende quali Fats Domino e Jerry Lee Lewis, un sound delle origini che Perry ha fatto proprio rendendolo originale, unico e riconoscibilissimo. The Rockin' Pumpin' Piano Man!