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Duke Robillard

Duke Robillard - Blues Guitarist Inspired by blues legends like T-Bone Walker, Charlie Patton and Big Joe Turner, Duke's guitar work has seamlessly spanned the worlds of jazz, blues, and swing since he founded the renowned big band, Roomful of Blues, in 1967. Since 1980, Duke has recorded over a dozen acclaimed solo albums and toured the world both with his own band and as a featured accompanist. Called "one of the great players" by the legendary B.B. King, Duke's upbeat live performance, accented by a swinging horn section, is a tasteful display of a wide variety of blues styles. Duke had his first band in high school - he was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island - and he was fascinated from the beginning by the ways in which jazz, swing, and the blues were linked. In 1967, he formed Roomful of Blues, and the band was tight enough and tough enough to accompany two of its heroes, Big Joe Turner and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on record and in live appearances. Always ahead of his time, Duke's first band pre-dated the renewed interest in jump blues by more than a decade - and almost 20 years later, in 1986, when he recorded with jazz sax master Scott Hamilton, he recorded a collection of classic big band tunes from the '30s and '40s, thus skillfully pre-dating the neo-Swing craze of the mid '90s. Roomful of Blues - which still continues, a quarter of a century later - gave Duke his first exposure to a wide public, and when he left after a dozen years, he played briefly with rockabilly king Robert Gordon, then cut two albums with the Legendary Blues Band (a sterling collection of former members of Muddy Waters' band). He led his own band until 1990, and then replaced Jimmy Vaughan in the Fabulous Thunderbirds. In 1993, as he was about to sign a world-wide recording deal with Virgin/Pointblank, he met Holger Petersen, head of the Canadian independent label Stony Plain, at a folk festival in Winnipeg. In conversation, he mentioned he wanted to record a complete album of blues, without the R&B and jazz influences of his work to date. Petersen was interested; Virgin gave the go-ahead, and the resulting album, “Duke's Blues,” earned rave reviews. It was so successful, in fact, that Virgin soon licensed the record from Stony Plain and released it around the world. In the years since his relationship with Stony Plain, he has been astonishingly fruitful.

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Album Review

Bob Dylan: Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17

Read "Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Dylanologists of every stripe and level of Dylanalia had it partly right when Bob Dylan released Time Out Of Mind (Columbia) in mid-September 1997. “Great album!" They/we/us all screamed. “Great songs!" “Dylan's best since the totemic Blood On the Tracks!" (Columbia, 1975) “Mid-career masterwork!" “The Bard's New Relevance!" If you weren't there the first time it really was a Category 5 idiot wind of biblical proportion. In the chalk dust arena of popular punditry, the second enfant ...

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Album Review

Scott Hamilton and Duke Robillard: Swingin' Again

Read "Swingin' Again" reviewed by Kyle Simpler


In 1987, Duke Robillard released the album Swing (Rounder), a successful combination of jazz and jump blues. He got his old friend, tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton to help him out with the recording. Although Robillard is primarily known as a blues guitarist, the record made it obvious that jazz is also deeply rooted in his musical DNA. With Swingin' Again, he revisits the jazz world, and he once again teams up with Hamilton to help him out. Robillard ...

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Album Review

The Duke Robillard Jazz Trio: Wobble Walkin'

Read "Wobble Walkin'" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Guitarist Duke Robillard may be widely praised for his blues bona fides, but calling him a blues guitarist is a bit limiting. While his work with Roomful of Blues and his stint with the Fabulous Thunderbirds have earned him a large fan base and some well-deserved respect in the blues and guitar communities, he's proven himself equally conversant in jazz and elsewhere. Blues music remains his bread and butter, but albums like After Hours Swing Session (Rounder, 1990), Conversations In ...

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Album Review

New Guitar Summit: Shivers

Read "Shivers" reviewed by Mike Perciaccante


The second album from the triumvirate of virtuoso guitarists J. Geils, Duke Robillard and Gerry Beaudoin is another set of vintage jazz-blues in which the three guitarists improvise while prodding, teasing and pushing each other to greater heights. While only four of the tracks are originals written by one or more members of the group, each track fits comfortably within the swing-bop-jazz-blues context of the album.

On Shivers the three are joined by yet another brilliant guitarist, Randy ...

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Album Review

Duke Robillard and Herb Ellis: More Conversations in Swing Guitar

Read "More Conversations in Swing Guitar" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


On the surface, the pairing of these two guitarists from different generations might seem an odd match. Duke Robillard is the founder of Roomful of Blues, has played with Eddie “Cleanhead" Vinson, Big Joe Turner, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bob Dylan. Herb Ellis, the elder half of this duo, has played with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Oscar Peterson, from Billie Holiday to Ella Fitzgerald. But from the very opening notes of More Conversations in Swing Guitar (the follow-up to '99s ...

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Album Review

Duke Robillard: Living with The Blues

Read "Living with The Blues" reviewed by Charlie B. Dahan


Duke Robillard is a true, if not, under-appreciated, treasure of American music. Since he broke into the music business with the band he help found, Roomful of Blues, Duke has recorded over twenty albums in over twenty years, relying upon virtuostic hands on his guitar and a keen ear for traditional and contemporary styles. Never one to be pigeonholed, Robillard has explored the many faces of jazz, blues and roots music, usually blending them into crafty and tasty recordings. For ...

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Recording

The Duke Robillard Jazz Trio Releases "Wobble Walkin"on Blue Duchess Records

The Duke Robillard Jazz Trio Releases "Wobble Walkin"on Blue Duchess Records

Source: Two for the Show Media

Since he arrived on the scene in the late '60s as founder of the groundbreaking Roomful of Blues, and subsequently in a thriving solo career that began more than three decades ago, Duke Robillard has consistently exhibited boundless curiosity and undeniable panache, continually reinforcing his reputation as one of the planet's most innovative roots musicians. Robillard's journey has taken him in multiple directions, and Wobble Walkin', the debut release for his own Blue Duchess Records (blueduchessrecords.com) is one of the ...

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Interview

Something Else! Interview: Blues Legend Duke Robillard

Something Else! Interview: Blues Legend Duke Robillard

Source: Something Else!

Duke Robillard, co-founder of Roomful of Blues and a former member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, has earned high praise from none other than B.B. King—who labeled him “one of the great players." B.B. isn't the only one who's noticed: A Handy award winner for best blues guitarist in both 2000-01, Robillard received a Grammy nod for best traditional blues album in 2006. A year later, he earned the Pell Award for Artistic Excellence, given in his home state of Rhode ...

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Recording

Duke Robillard - Low Down and Tore up (2011)

Duke Robillard - Low Down and Tore up (2011)

Source: Something Else!

Blues records used to routinely sound like this: Loose and fun, almost anarchic in their pursuit of nothing more than good-time joy and real-time emotion. Duke Robillard, co-founder of Roomful of Blues and former member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, breathes new life into the concept on Low Down and Tore Up, to be issued today on Stony Plain Records. Now 40-plus years into his journey as a band leader and blues songwriter, Robillard has rarely sounded more visceral and present. ...

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Education

Jazz Academy Music Making Opportunities with Columbus Music Co-op, Sarah Morrow, Duke Robillard, Nia Allen

Jazz Academy Music Making Opportunities with Columbus Music Co-op, Sarah Morrow, Duke Robillard, Nia Allen

Source: Michael Ricci

The Jazz Arts Group of Columbus (JAG) offers extraordinary music making opportunities at the Jazz Academy to engage all ages and interests including free workshops with the Columbus Music Co-op and clinics with international trombone star Sarah Morrow, Blues Music Award-winning guitarist Duke Robillard, and gospel singer Nia Allen. The Columbus Music Co-op continues its free workshop series for aspiring musicians this Sunday, November 21 with “So You Want to Make Music in Columbus?" Learn how to book shows and ...

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Event

Aliant Mobility Sounds Fantastic and TBS Present the Legendary Duke Robillard and Band

Aliant Mobility Sounds Fantastic and TBS Present the Legendary Duke Robillard and Band

Source: Just Roots PR

Aliant Mobility Sounds Fantastic and TBS Present The Legendary Duke Robillard and His Band

When: 9 PM, Saturday, October 20th Where:@ George's Roadhouse Tickets $10 in advance (at Ducky's) and $12 at the door Special Student Price:: $6(only available at the door, ID required):

Here's a quick quiz: What do Bob Dylan, Jay McShann, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Hammond, the late Jimmy Witherspoon, Dr. John, Maria Muldaur, Roomful of Blues, and the Canadian band ...

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Recording

Stony Plain Presents Duke Robillard's World Full of Blues

Stony Plain Presents Duke Robillard's World Full of Blues

Source: All About Jazz

STONY PLAIN PRESENTS DUKE ROBILLARD'S WORLD FULL OF BLUES/ “ALL KILLER, NO FILLER" SPECIALLY PRICED 2-CD SET DUE JUNE 26 EDMONTON, AB - Stony Plain Records announces a June 26 release date for Duke Robillard's World Full of Blues, the latest CD from the Grammy-nominated legendary blues and roots music guitarist. The two disc set is being retailed at a special single CD list price of $16.98, and contains almost two hours of blues-worthy music from one of the genre's ...

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Graham Griffith
guitar, steel

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Fragments - Time Out...

Columbia Records
2023

buy

Swingin' Again

Blue Duchess
2021

buy

Wobble Walkin'

Blue Duchess
2012

buy

Shivers

Stony Plain Records
2008

buy

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