![]() If you heard Taj Mahal backed up by The Phantom Blues Band, that was Mike Finnigan. From the time he set foot in LA in 1970 until his passing, he basically played and sang with everybody. Mike Finnigan passed away in August at age 76. He was one of the best and - though I kind of hate to think this way - maybe one of the last. Gene Taylor spent a lifetime perfecting and playing boogie-woogie piano, a style of music that’s basically an expression of near-unbridled joy. I only saw him perform live twice - both times with The T-Birds, led by vocalist and blues harp maestro Kim Wilson. Taylor also played with The Fabulous Thunderbirds. And Gene Taylor right in the thick of it, pushing the band as only a boogie piano can. You remember them: They were at the forefront of a musical genre that came to be known as Americana - a blend of rock, country, blues, R&B and rockabilly. ![]() Taylor first popped up in my life sometime around 1980 as the pianist with The Blasters, formed by Dave and Phil Alvin. And when it took Gene, it also took a master of boogie-woogie piano playing. ![]() He died in his bed at home in Austin, Texas, trying to keep himself warm during that fatal failure of the Texas power grid, that needlessly took a lot of good people. Gene Taylor played rockin’ boogie-woogie piano from his teenage years in Los Angeles until he died in February at age 68. ![]()
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