Boogie-woogie is a driving blues piano style that features a rolling, “eight-to-the-bar” rhythm. It’s based on ostinato bass figures in 8/8 time, and mostly uses the 12-bar blues harmonic scheme.

Piano man Ricky Nye admits there was no “grand design” when he started his Blues and Boogie Piano Summit 15 years ago. He was simply carrying out what he sees as the highest calling for those into the ...

The subtext is simple—a perfectly balanced left hand augmented by a bouncing, out-of-control right hand crossed with the 12-bar blues turned from 33&1/3 to 78. All of this equals boogie woogie piano.