Photo by Jeannette Ricciardo |
TONY CAMPO
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KEYBOARDS
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Tony Campo has been playing keyboards for over 35 years. “I started studying accordion at age 7 and was playing Stone’s tunes and Loui-Loui in the basement with my grammar school friends by the 4th grade. That was a pretty funny sight pumping those bellows to Satisfaction. But hey it’s only Rock and Roll. ” His formal piano training started in his early 20's, after 10 years of playing Hammond Organ/Piano/Synthesizer at HS dances and clubs with the "Arthur" band in Queens. “ I had played more gigs by the age of 19 than guys twice my age”. In the late 60's, the blues hit Tony hard and he bought his first blues albums, John Mayall's "Bare Wires" and "The Live Adventures of Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield." "Since then there really has been no looking back... It's as vital as Bach or Bird!" Tony sites a long list of influences on the keys including PineTop Perkins, Dr. John, Jimmy Smith, Mcoy Tyner and Chuck Leavell . For the past 20 years, Tony has actively been studying jazz improvisation (his current teacher being Larry Bluth, a Lenny Tristano devotee of modern jazz piano and Be-Bop). Tony joined the Kerry Kearney Band in spring 2002. Prior to that he had played as a member of the Smokedaddys and collaborated with Kane Daily on original projects. He currently teaches piano in the Huntington, LI area when he’s not out playing with KKB. “Playin' in the Kerry Kearney Band is such a trip, the musicianship and the vibe are as deep as the Delta, and if your playin' the Blues that’s where it should be – deep in the groove!” |
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