Attorney-Turned-Ragtime Pianist to Perform in Birmingham

Matthew Ball, an attorney turned boogie, blues and ragtime musician who says his YouTube videos have garnered more than 2.8 million views, will perform at noon Tuesday, Aug. 19, at the Birmingham Senior Center.

The program will feature all-American family piano favorites from the Swing Era, including “Swanee River,” “Over the Rainbow,” “The Entertainer,” “In the Mood” and “bumble Boogie.”

The pianist studied at Oakland University under Dr. Flavio Varani, a classically trained pianist who traces his pedigree of study through the Paris Conservatory back to Frederic Chopin by way of Magda Tagliaferro, Alfred Cortot, and Emile Descombs, who was a late pupil of the composer Chopin.

Ball left his career as an attorney in 2001 after he attended a local boogie-woogie festival, to become a blues and boogie-woogie man. He has been performing as the “Boogie-Woogie Kid” for more than a decade.

Get a sneak peek by watching the video below. More selections are found on Ball’s YouTube channel.