Duke Robillard & Friends Blues Bash!

Duke Robillard & Friends
Blues Bash!
Stony Plain

Duke Robillard had built up such a distinguished body of recordings as an artist and producer over five decades. This latest release is another chapter in his well-regarded career about which he states is "packed with plenty of bright sounding Fender guitar a la Ike Turner, Lefty Bates, etc. Just a good listening or dancing record like the blues records I bought when I was a kid." His intent was "to make a straight vintage-style blues album with rhythmic grooves and no hook-laden songs." "Blues Bash!" Certainly accomplishes his objective.

Playing on this recording is his band of Bruce Bears on keyboards, Mark Texiera on drums, and either Jesse Williams or Marty Ballou on bass. Then there is the horn section of Greg Piccolo on tenor sax, Rich Lataille on alto and tenor sax, and Doug James on baritone sax. Mark Hummel adds harmonica, and Robert Welch adds piano on one track. On a cover of Smiley Lewis' "Ain't Gonna Do It," the band consists of Mark Braun on piano, Marty Ballou on bass, Marty Richards on drums, Al Basile on cornet, and Sax Gordon on sax. Besides Duke, Chris Cote and Michelle Willson are heard on vocals.

Duke is focused playing his Fender guitar on these recordings, whether evoking Ike Turner behind Cote's vocal on the cover of the Kings of Rhythm recording "Do You Mean It," or channeling Lefty Bates on a rendition of Bates' instrumental "Rock Alley." He plays in the manner of Johnny Rogers in the cover of Roy Milton's shuffle "What Can I Do," as well as suggesting early Johnny Guitar Watson on "Give Me All the Love You Got."

The music is impeccably played with some top-flight singing, especially from Cote on "Do You Mean It" and Wilson, as she interprets a lesser-known Helen Humes recording, "You Played on My Piano." Her vocal exhibits plenty of humor the lyrics lend themselves to. Duke himself sings quite well with the Chicago styled blues "No Time," with Mark Hummel adding harmonica on perhaps Duke's finest vocal on the album. The other players are sterling, including Piccolo with a booting tenor sax solo on "Rock Alley" and Doug James rousing baritone on "You Played on My Piano."

The rest of the ten tracks are as entertaining and well-played with a special salute to the jazzy atmospheric instrumental "Just Chillin'" that closes this latest outstanding recording from Duke Robillard.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is "Do You Mean It!" from Blues Bash!"

The Acoustic Blues & Roots Of Duke Robillard

Duke Robillard has been fairly prolific on recordings recently and Stony Plain has issued his latest, "The Acoustic Blues & Roots Of." One might be tempted to call this "Duke Unplugged," but the 18 selections cover a wide range of genres, not simply types of blues. Along with some of his regular partners in music, bassist Marty Ballou, pianist Matt McCabe and drummer Mark Teixeira there are guest appearances including vocalists Sunny Crownover and Maria Muldaur, guitarist and vocalist Mary Flower, pianist Jay McShann, harmonica wizard Jerry Portnoy and clarinetist Billy Novick. Along with Robillard originals there are songs from Stephen Foster, Jimmie Rodgers, Big Bill Broonzy, the Delmore Brothers, Tampa Red, John Estes, Hank Williams, Robert Lockwood Jr., and others.

Overdubbing allows him to showcase his mandolin on the brief "Old Kentucky Home," followed by his capturing a pre-war Chicago blues groove on Broonzy's "Big Bill Blues." "Left Handed," with Portnoy contributing the Sonny Boy Williamson I harp comes across as another Big Bill styled performance. Portnoy is also on the cover of Sleepy John Estes' "Someday Baby." There is a pretty straight rendition of "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water," while Novick's clarinet and Robillard's mandolin are heard on a nice"St. Louis Blues."

There are affable renditions of country tunes including Jimmie Rogers "Jimmie's Texas Blues," with a credible yodel"; a lovely duet with Mary Flower on the Delmore Brothers' "Nashville Blues"; and a cover of Hank Williams' waltz, "Let's Turn Back The Years." Sunny Crownover sings "Evangeline," covering a song associated with Emmylou Harris and The Band. With Novick on clarinet, Robillard sings some Tampa Red hokum on "What Is It That Tastes Like Gravy?" Most performances are short (Under 4 minutes), with the longest being a take on Robert Lockwood's "Take A Little Walk With Me," that has outstanding piano from McCabe. A treat is a duet with Jay McShann on the moody Meade Lux lewis composed instrumental "Profoundly Blue."

Robillard acquits himself as a vocalist and the playing is wonderful throughout resulting in an enjoyable change of pace from Duke's other recordings.

I received my review copy from Mark Pucci. Here is Duke Robillard jumping the blues.

Peter Parcek Solves The Mathematics of Love

Peter Parcek’s website, describes his guitar style as weaving “rock, gypsy-jazz, country, folk, and blues-- especially blues-- into a tapestry of melody, harmony and daredevil solos that push those styles to their limits without sacrificing the warmth of his own personality.” He has a release to showcase this musical blend and his virtuosity, “The Mathematics of Love” (VizzTone). As for this album he states the influence of Django Reinhardt, “Django’s performances are breathtakingly beautifully and technically demanding. I’ve really been taken with the purity of his acoustic guitar sound, and he played electric with such abandon. His music is very much alive and creative, so I also tried to bring those qualities to ‘The Mathematic of Love.’” He is backed here by drummer Steve Scully and bassist Marc Hickox with appearances by Mandolin virtuoso Jimmy Ryan, violinist Dan Kellar and upright bass Marty Ballou.

The recording opens with a rendition of Peter Green’s “Showbiz Blues,” with the mood incorporating Elmore James licks, a driving hill country groove with blistering slide. While not a great singer, Parcek convincing asks “Do you give a damn about me.” The title track follows with a hesitant slow tempo, as he hauntingly sings “don’t lie to me, don’t erase me, you know the Mathematics of Love are plain and simple as a A B C,” with nice acoustic slide contrasted with his use of electronic effects. “Rollin’ With Zah,” is an dazzling instrumental tour de force as Parcek snaps, crackles, chicken scratches and lays down some heavy runs.

A surprising, but striking, cover is from the pen of the late Jessie Mae Hemphill’s “Lord Help the Poor and Needy,” which he sings and plays at a dirge tempo with vibrato and echo prevalent and a synthesized drone, before he takes an impressive, carefully developed solo against this thudding rhythm. “Get Right With God,”is a rocking instrumental take of a Lucinda Williams song with more guitar pyrotechnics. He takes a softer approach on “Tears Like Diamonds,” with his vocal being a bit more effective here. “Kokomo Me Baby,” takes a number associated with Mississippi Fred McDowell, and takes it into warp drive with an able vocal and dazzling guitar. The cleanness of his picking as well as his use of sonic textures again stands out.

“New Year’s Eve,” again takes a more country blues feel with some tasty harp by Mike Fritz and Ronnie Earl adds his guitar to the performance. This is followed by an instrumental interpretation of “Busted” with Al Kooper guesting on organ. Parcek employ’s a heavy, nasty tone at the beginning as his guitar sings the lyrics before taking off on his sonic explorations.

“The Mathematics of Love,” is a first-rate recording of blues roots and guitar explorations that mixes tradition with a heavy dose of the contemporary. While his vocals may vary in convincingness, (he shines when he is in an acoustic-oriented vein), he always is listenable. However, his guitar playing will unquestionably be the recordings strongest appeal; and fans of the legendary Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan should enjoy listening to Parcek’s impressive fretwork.

This review originally appeared in the June 2010 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 326) at pp.19-20 (www.jazz-blues.com) to which I made minor stylistic corrections. The review copy for this CD was provided by a publicist.