BULLET BIO
Since 1978 to the present day I've been playing many clubs in many different incarnations, mostly jazz dates but joining blues & rock bands and others on a regular basis, as well as the usual vast array of great local singers.
In February 2016 I began performing with Danny Grewen, an all-star trombonist and amazing singer. We've performed together regularly every Wednesday night from 7 to 10 pm at a great Cajun restaurant in Chapel Hill, NC called IMBIBE aka ROUGAROU, located at 108 Henderson Street. Join us , no cover, great food and long long list of beers and wine.
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Beginning in 2019, Crystal Bright became a steady musical partner. Her own band, called Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands, is still performing but she and I have a little different set. Often we perform as a duet but usually have have added other pieces to the magic. She is a very original talent, powerful vocalist that plays piano (yes, we sometimes do piano duets) accordion and saw. The saw playing is unlike anything you’ve ever heard.
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Also a regular pianist with Katharine Whalen’s Jazz Squad, you can find us on a regular rotation at Yonder Bar in Hillsborough many a Thursday night. The Jazz Squad's most recent album,
To Hide a Heart That's Blue was released in January of 2021.
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1963 studied in New Bern, NC with Avids Snornieks
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1967 studied in Siena, Italy with Guido Agosti
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1969 graduated UNC with music degree studying with Clifton Matthews
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1970 studied one year at New England Conservatory with Jacob Maxin a course with Rudolf Kolisch - Beethoven string quartets
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1972 Syracuse University Masters Degree in music
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1969 to 1972 taught at Syracuse University
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1974 -1975 taught Campbell University
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1979 1st studio recording with great country singer Buddy Davis Asheville, NC
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1979 formed first jazz band in Asheville, NC 'Round Midnight
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1980 taught at UNC-Asheville
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1981 musical director of Chez Condoret Cabaret
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1982-1984 Robert Griffin Trio at Radisson Plaza, Raleigh, 6 nights a week
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1984-1988 formed Proof Positive, “society band”
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1987 local series of many shows with the very talented Callie Warner, doing exclusively music of Tom Waits (a 60 song repertoire)
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1989 tour of France with Taz Halloween
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1993-2008 (15 years at 5 night per week) house pianist at Carolina Club in Alumni Center, UNC campus
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during which time I also toured with the SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS,Katharine Whalen Jazz Squad, and 5 tours in France working with french chanteuse, Tania Carl
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1998 - also recorded my first full length cd NORTH CAROLINA: A STATE OF MUSIC, a solo piano recording;
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1999 played piano and arranged the KATHARINE WHALEN JAZZ SQUAD cd;
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2006 recorded THE TANIA CARL cd
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2009 once again touring with the Squirrel Nut Zippers all over USA and Columbia, South America
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2010, released a new cd called AIN’T MY KINDA STRANGE with an all star ensemble including Ray Codrington, trumpet: Frank Worrell, drums: Don Gladstone bass: Rodney Marsh, sax: Taz Halloween, Carter Minor and Jackie Thomas, backing vocalsAll songs are my compositions -, played piano and lead vocals
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Since 2011 I have been doing 2 shows a year with the Murphey School Radio show modeled after Prairie Home Companion
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2013 brought a new cd with Tania Carl entitled Pour Toi. The set includes 4 songs of Tania’s with myself and great percussionist, Beverly Botsford and 4 songs of mine with Tania and drummer Bobby Cohen. All music available on the reverbnation site.​
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Griffanzo's most recent album"I Mighta Lied To You Yesterday" (But I'll Tell You The Truth Tonight) was released in December 2015 with 8 original tracks and an all-star cast of musicians is available on amazon. Having played the famed Cat's Cradle for the release party it is doing quite well.
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From March of 2016 I travelled to San Francisco for an annual gig and retreat for 5 straight years. ​
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