Duke Robillard

Duke Robillard - Duke's Blues - 1996 - Point Blank

Robillard, ex-Fab Thunderbird and founder of Roomful of Blues, hits a cool-rockin' groove on the opening, "Midnite Cannonball," and rides it with style, chops and hot horn riffs through the closing 11-minute jam on the late Albert Collins',"Dyin' Flu." A fine mix of originals and classics. © Jeff Bateman, © 1996-2008, Amazon.com

Great album by Duke. Some great covers, and four compositions by Duke Robillard himself. The tunes are American roots' based, with a terrific blend of rock & roll, rockabilly, jazz, and blues, and the music is mainly played in a 50's "jump-style." A very enjoyable album from the great Rhode Island vocalist and guitarist, and his wonderful band. Buy his great "Swing" album. Listen to some of The Fabulous Thunderbirds' albums, some of which feature Duke Robillard, and for music in a similar vein, check out the late, great T-Bone Walker's brilliant "T-Bone Blues" album.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

Midnight Cannonball Turner, Turner
Glamour Girl Carter
I Still Love You Baby Fulson
Texas Hop Crayton, Taub
Don't Leave Me Baby Walker
Tell Me Why Robillard
Something to Remember You By Guitar Slim, Jones
Love Slipped In Robillard
Information Blues Milton
Don't Treat Me Like That Robillard
Never Let You Go Liggins
Gee I Wish Love, Phillips
My Heart Is Cryin' Arnold, Arnold
Red's Riff Robillard
Dyin' Flu Collins

BAND

Gordon Beadle Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor)
Duke Robillard Guitar, Vocals
Greg Mazel Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor), Vibraphone
Paul Murphy Guitar
Marty Ballou Bass, Bass (Acoustic)
Matt McCabe Piano
Al Basile Cornet
Jeff McAllister, Jeffery McAllister Drums

ABOUT DUKE ROBILLARD

Duke Robillard is one of the founding members of Roomful of Blues, as well as one of the guitarists who replaced Jimmie Vaughan in the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1990. Between that time, Robillard pursued a solo career that found him exploring more musically adventurous territory than either Roomful of Blues or the T-Birds. On his solo recordings, the guitarist dips into blues, rockabilly, jazz, and rock & roll, creating a unique fusion of American roots musics. In 1967, Duke Robillard formed Roomful of Blues in Westerly, RI. For the next decade, he led the band through numerous lineup changes before he decided that he had grown tired of the group. Robillard left the band in 1979, initially signing on as rockabilly singer Robert Gordon's lead guitarist. After his stint with Gordon, Robillard joined the Legendary Blues Band. In 1981, the guitarist formed a new group, the Duke Robillard Band, which soon evolved into Duke Robillard & the Pleasure Kings. After a few years of touring, Duke Robillard & the Pleasure Kings landed a contract with Rounder Records, releasing their eponymous debut album in 1984. For the rest of the decade, the band toured America and released a series of albums on Rounder Records. Occasionally, the guitarist would release a jazz-oriented solo album. In 1990, Robillard joined the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Even though he had become a member of the Austin group, the guitarist continued to record and tour as a solo artist, signing with the major label Point Blank/Virgin in 1994 for Temptation. Duke's Blues followed two years later, and after one more album for Virgin, 1997's Dangerous Place, Robillard signed to Shanachie for 1999's New Blues for Modern Man. Conversations in Swing Guitar followed later that year, and the prolific guitarist returned in mid-2000 with Explorer. Robillard switched to the Stony Plain label with 2002's Living with the Blues, and began a steady run of releases for the imprint, including a second pairing with jazz guitarist Herb Ellis for More Conversations in Swing Guitar (2003). Exalted Lover followed later that same year. Blue Mood, a tribute to T-Bone Walker, and New Guitar Summit (which teamed Robillard with guitarists J. Geils and Gerry Beaudoin) both appeared in 2004. Guitar Groove-A-Rama was released in 2006. Robillard continued to explore the jazz and jump blues path with 2008's A Swingin Session with Duke Robillard. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

BIO (Wikipedia)

Michael John "Duke" Robillard (born October 4, 1948 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island) is an American blues musician. After playing in various bands and working for Guild guitars, he co-founded Roomful of Blues with pianist Al Copley in 1967. He has also been a member of the The Fabulous Thunderbirds which included Kim Wilson, replacing Jimmie Vaughan. Also experienced in Jazz, Swing, Rock and Roll and modern electric blues forms, Robillard is generally regarded as a guitar player keeping the blues style of T-Bone Walker. He has recorded with leading artists such as Jimmy Witherspoon, Snooky Prior, Jay McShann, Hal Singer, Pinetop Perkins and Bob Dylan. In the summer of 2006, Robillard accompanied Tom Waits on a ten date tour of the Southern USA. Waits had not visited many of these cites in almost 30 years, and tickets for the Louisville, KY show (which Waits had not played since 1978) sold out in less than 10 minutes. He has been nominated for and has received numerous awards over his career. Awards include 2007 Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts , 2001 "Best Blues Guitarist" W.C. Handy Award, 2000 "Best Blues Guitarist" W.C. Handy Award. Robillard has also been nominated for: 2007 "Best Contemporary Blues Album" Grammy Award