Event

Boogie Woogie Kid

The Holland Sentinel declares 'Matthew Ball is one of Michigan's premier blues & boogie-woogie pianists.' With recent debuts in Chicago & New York, and a performance history that includes everything from symphony appearances to blues festivals, this young man is at the helm of an enviable performance career. Classically trained, Matthew became an accomplished pianist early in life. He debuted in his first symphony appearances before age 21, and before the end of his undergraduate study had been welcomed abroad for performances in Germany. After completing a double Bachelor degree in Music & History, and receiving the coveted 'MaTilDa' award, he left Oakland University (and music) to pursue a law degree at the University of Detroit. By 1998 he was a licensed attorney in Michigan.

Practicing law and deeply dissatisfied, Matthew attended a 2001 Motor City Boogie-Woogie Festival that would become the inspiration for his transformation into one of today's finest purveyors of the blues & boogie piano traditions. By 2005, at the Cincinnati Blues Fest, he was headlining with some of the same performers that he watched play at the 2001 festival. The only pupil of the legendary Bob Seeley (hall of famer and direct disciple of Boogie's originator Meade 'Lux' Lewis,) Matthew is part of a legacy that traces back to the earliest roots of these uniquely American art-forms.

A scholar, virtuoso, and consummate professional, Matthew has been described as a "rising giant in the field." Today he is defining a new generation's contribution to the fading art of boogie-woogie & blues piano - meet the Boogie Woogie Kid!