"Stomp the Blues Tonight"

Duke Robillard's Jumpin' Blues Revue

www.dukerobillard.com

Stony Plain

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- It's no secret that Duke Robillard is one of the best -- if not the best -- jump blues players on the planet. And he's no slouch in a variety of other styles as well. Here, he revisits many tunes he performed decades ago with Roomful of Blues.

From the opening title track, a hard-swinging introduction to Robillard's free-and-easy lyrical style, and Johnny Guitar Watson's straight-up "Three Hours Past Midnight" to classic shouter Wynonie Harris' "Playful Baby" (with Robillard invoking Harris' warm, sandpaper vocals), it's all there. No matter what the song or setting, each guitar solo offers up a primer any guitarist should pay close attention to -- not because Robillard is a speed merchant but because he understands melody and rhythm. And, like many top-shelf guitar players, he's taken cues from the great saxophonists.

But it's not just Robillard's show. He's joined by longtime bandmates bassist Marty Ballou, cornet player Al Basile, and sax men Doug James and Rich Lataille. And Robillard, who knows the genre as well as he does his fretboard, chooses 16 tunes that represent the era, from Ike Turner's slamming "Tore Up" and Roy Milton's slinky "Early in the Morning" to the timeless "Ain't Nobody's Business."

"Stomp the Blues Tonight"

Duke Robillard's Jumpin' Blues Revue

www.dukerobillard.com

Stony Plain

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- It's no secret that Duke Robillard is one of the best -- if not the best -- jump blues players on the planet. And he's no slouch in a variety of other styles as well. Here, he revisits many tunes he performed decades ago with Roomful of Blues.

From the opening title track, a hard-swinging introduction to Robillard's free-and-easy lyrical style, and Johnny Guitar Watson's straight-up "Three Hours Past Midnight" to classic shouter Wynonie Harris' "Playful Baby" (with Robillard invoking Harris' warm, sandpaper vocals), it's all there. No matter what the song or setting, each guitar solo offers up a primer any guitarist should pay close attention to -- not because Robillard is a speed merchant but because he understands melody and rhythm. And, like many top-shelf guitar players, he's taken cues from the great saxophonists.

But it's not just Robillard's show. He's joined by longtime bandmates bassist Marty Ballou, cornet player Al Basile, and sax men Doug James and Rich Lataille. And Robillard, who knows the genre as well as he does his fretboard, chooses 16 tunes that represent the era, from Ike Turner's slamming "Tore Up" and Roy Milton's slinky "Early in the Morning" to the timeless "Ain't Nobody's Business."