Frank Muschalle, Piano Solo

Frank Muschalle has been on tour for 30 years and is considered to be one of the most sought-after Blues & Boogie-Woogie pianists in the world. He has played concerts all over Europe, Paraguay, Bolivia, the United States and North Africa.

He has released15 CDs so far with various musicians such as Carey Bell, Jean-Pierre Bertrand, Nappy Brown, Jimmy Coe, Herb Hardesty, Red Holloway, Stephan Holstein, Bob Margolin, Jimmy McCracklin, Louisiana Red, Alex Schultz, Matthias Seuffert, Cary Smith, Bob Stroger, Hubert Sumlin, Engelbert Wrobel and Rusty Zinn.

"A far cry from mere virtuoso pyrotechnics, Muschalle demonstrates how to remain within the idiom and still tell little stories with motifs and riffs, instead of simply juggling with them..." - Jazzpodium

Born in 1969, Frank discovered Boogie-Woogie after 11 years of classical piano instruction. From then on, he dedicated himself to studying this kind of music. Frank has been influenced by the Boogie-Woogie trio Ammons, Johnson, Lewis, but also by pianists like Axel Zwingenberger, Little Brother Montgomery and Cow Cow Davenport.

In 1995, his debut CD, Great Boogie-Woogie News, was released by the Viennese label Document Records. This was followed by a tour through Austria with the Mojo Blues Band and Red Holloway, and joint concerts with Axel Zwingenberger and Vince Weber. In 1997, his second CD, Battin` the Boogie, was released and Frank played at festivals such as Stars of Boogie-Woogie in the Konzerthaus in Vienna. In September 1998, he was invited on a two-week tour of South Carolina together with the Mojo Blues Band. On this tour, he made recordings with Jimmy McCracklin and Nappy Brown for Ripete Records (USA).

The highlight of 2002 was definitely the three-day series of concerts for the 40th anniversary of the AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL in Eisenach/Thuringia, where Frank played with legendary musicians such as Hubert Sumlin, Carey Bell, Bob Stroger and Louisiana Red. This was followed by the JUMPIN ́ AT THE FLAGSHIPS Tour through various Swiss theatres in September 2002. This project was financially supported by the Swiss Ringier Publishing Group and presented Frank with Jazz/R&B musicians like Red Holloway, Carrie Smith, Rusty Zinn or Jimmie Coe. A one-hour documentary of these concerts was shown on the Swiss TV channel DRS, and live recordings of these concerts were also made.

Apart from various tours through Germany, Austria and Switzerland – with saxophonist Matthias Seuffert among others – Frank appeared with his trio at the International Jazzfestival at Sea in 2004 – a jazz-cruise through the Mediterranean together with Paul Kuhn, Charly Antolini, Jiggs Whigham, Olivier Franc and others.

In 2007, the trio was invited on a tour of Paraguay together with Axel Zwingenberger. Because of the great success the tour was repeated in 2008 and 2009, and not only took the musicians to Paraguay, but also to Bolivia. This was followed by concerts in North Africa, and in 2013, there was yet another invitation to perform in Paraguay.

In April 2019, Frank was asked to play concerts in the United States (Chicago, Houston and Cincinnati) and Canada (Ottawa). In September 2019, there was an invitation from the Goethe Institute for a five-day concert tour to Atlanta/USA. In 2022 and 2023, there were further invitations from the USA and Canada for performances in Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver.

Tickets are $20 general admission; $15 for students/low-income individuals. Children under 12 are free. Advance tickets are available here, or if the show is not sold out, you may purchase your tickets at the door before the show.

Doors open one half hour before show time. We accept cash or Venmo only at the door.

The Back Room is an all-ages, BYOB (for those 21+) space, dedicated to (mostly) acoustic music of all kinds. You are welcome to bring your own food and beverages. The venue is ADA accessible. If you need more information or have any questions, please call us: #510-381-1997.

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Please note: Although masks are no longer required, we strongly encourage their use to keep everyone safe in our intimate space.

Host or Publisher Sam Rudin