DOM PIPKIN

DOM PIPKIN

It's amazing how Pipkin can play convincingly in the style of so many musicians while not sounding like he's just doing a 'by the numbers' cover version.

Alongside a glittering session career (David Byrne, Ray Davies, Morcheeba), piano player and songwriter Dom Pipkin has been described by Blues in Britain as "one of the world's greatest exponents of New Orleans piano". He first discovered the New Orleans style in the early 90s, and has gone on to become a regular visitor and performer in that city, with appearances that include the highly acclaimed "Piano Night" and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival. He is a regular fixture on the European blues and boogie-woogie festival circuit having played 1000's of club and theatre, radio and TV dates in a career spanning nearly three decades.

Pipkin developed a particular specialisation for the unique flavours of maverick New Orleans piano star James Booker (1939 - 1983) capturing the player's trademark combination of driving blues married with rhapsodic classical influences. He was invited to play at the world premiere of the documentary "Bayou Maharajah" at SXSW in 2014, and at multiple subsequent screenings of the film.

Pipkin regularly performs and records in New Orleans, and has shared stages with legends such as Allen Toussaint , Dr John and Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Grammy award winner Jon Cleary invites him to jam whenever he's in town. In live shows Pipkin mixes his own compelling songwriting with blues and Big Easy classics that "..cooks up a steaming musical stew that has the crowd dancing and clapping for more" Classic Rock Blues Magazine.

Pipkin's band the Ikos, takes these New Orleans influences and fleshes them out with drums, harmonies and wailing sax and has been resident at Ronnie Scott's London and around the RnB club scene where its reputation as a top level live act is second to none. Pipkin delivers the most authentic and compelling take on this highly infectious and life affirming blend of blues, gospel, street and jazz that is uniquely New Orleans, with a stellar list of international festivals and radio and TV appearances and fans ranging from Jonathan Ross, Hugh Laurie, David Arnold, and Jamie Cullum.

During the Covid lockdown he performed more than 120 broadcast shows from his home and completed his solo album "C'mon Sunshine" - an all-original collection of songs on the subject of hope, jammed full of spicy New Orleans and blues piano styles. The album "Live At The Temple" followed in 2023 - a spontaneous mix of two live sets at London's Temple Of Art And Music.

On screen, Pipkin stars in the new Netflix thriller, Black Doves (5 Dec 2024), and A Thousand Blows by the creators of Peaky Blinders (released Feb 21 2025), and can be seen jamming boogie-woogie with king of Kpop, Jay Chou, in the latest Rimowa commercial.

Alongside his own career, Pipkin has travelled the world with the band Morcheeba (with whom he has been associated since the bands inception in 1996). He is also active as an educator, running a highly popular New Orleans jam session in London, and writes articles based around keyboards for Blues Matters magazine.

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Live review

We couldn't wait to check out boogie-woogie pianist and singer Dom Pipkin who's been described as "the UK's best-kept piano secret". He is a musician who has a deep affinity for New Orleans music and has performed there extensively, meeting and sharing the stage with some of his musical heroes such as Allen Toussaint and Dr. John.

It's amazing how Pipkin can play convincingly in the style of so many musicians while not sounding like he's just doing a 'by the numbers' cover version.

This year the city of New Orleans is going to be 300 years and tonight Pipkin was going to act as our guide through it's musical history with his show 'Smokin' Boogie'. We start with a little bit of a potted history, including how much of the city's musical development took place in its many houses of ill-repute in the segregated district known as 'Storyville' which was a hub for prostitution, liquor and music. We hear about some of the area's musical pioneers such as Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, who as Jelly Roll Morton, may not quite have single-handedly invented jazz, but as Pipkin remarks "he was definitely there". It was possible to receive Cuban radio signals in New Orleans and Morton began to incorporate Latin rhythm's into his playing, particularly the habenera, which with its syncopated pulse was almost like the hip-hop beat of its time.

Now, if a picture is worth a thousand words, a song's got to be worth at least twice that. So Pipkin treats us to an amazing rendition of one of Jelly Roll's signature tunes, the aptly named 'Crave'. Turns out Storyville's and Jelly Roll's reigns were both relatively short-lived, the former was deemed too much of a distraction to troops in the run-up to WWI, so was shut down by the Navy, Dom illustrates this moment in history beautifully with his performance of Louis Armstrong's 'Farewell to Storyville'.

Meanwhile, Jelly Roll's popularity waned so much that he began to think he was the victim of a voodoo curse and he ended up dead at the age of 50 from stab wounds. After a wee bit of Professor Longhair and Percy Mayfield, the first half closes with one of Dom's original compositions. 'Love Affair With New Orleans' is an evocative, sadness tinged, but melodically pretty ballad that has a sort of bleary-eyed closing time vibe. Mum is particularly impressed, 'That's the best one yet!', she remarks.

Things start to really get going in the second half with a host of great performances in the style of some The Big Easy's piano greats. It's amazing how Pipkin can play convincingly in the style of so many musicians while not sounding like he's just doing a 'by the numbers' cover version. Everybody loves a bit of Fat Dominos and the audience really gets into a rousing rendition of 'Blue Monday'.

The real highlight, however, are the history and songs of James Booker. I didn't really know much about the pianist Dr. John referred to as "the best black, gay, one-eyed, junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced". Dom is clearly very passionate about Booker and when he starts to channel him in a Booker style rendition of 'Junko Partner' a blues song that has been covered by everyone from Dr. John and Bob Dylan, to Warren Zevon and The Clash, you can see why. I've never heard a version quite like this though and can't wait to check out James Bookers original recording.

One of the reasons I wanted to go along to the show, was that I was sure that a New Orleans piano gig would feature at least one song by one of my favourite musicians, Dr. John. I've loved the Doctor ever since I saw him sing 'Such a Night' on Martin Scorcese's famous concert film 'The Last Waltz' and tonight I get to see Dom do his version of the tune. It's such a great song, with a really amazing right-hand melody and Pipkin's vocal is spot on.

It's only fitting that the last song should be another number in the style of James Booker, the man who aspired to be the black Liberace. So in a slightly meta twist, we get Dom Pipkin playing piano in the style of James Booker playing piano in the style of Liberace! It's electric stuff!

After the show, mum queues up to buy a CD and we get to have a little chat and photo opportunity with the man himself. Jo and I get some tips for our trip to New Orleans later in the year, 'don't stay too long on Bourbon St. head to Frenchmen St. instead' and mum has a bit of banter about Ray Charles (wasn't a very nice person apparently). It was a great night and we all pile into mums car, stick Dom's live cd 'Smokin' Boogie' on the stereo and head back to Perth singing along.