Duke Robillard’s Stomp! The Blues Tonight will be released June 2nd. Stomp! The Blues Tonight finds Duke livening up his bluesy sound with splashes of swing and jazz. The disc recalls the early days of the bluesman’s career in the 1960s as a founding member of Roomful of Blues, including a horn section composed of his former bandmates: saxophonistss Doug James and Rich Lataille, and cornet player Al Basile.
Ol’ Duke and I go way back, though he doesn’t know it. Duke performed at the very first Mountain Stage show that I ever attended in August 1997, which also happened to be my first proper concert. Robillard shared the stage with Joan Baez, Sinead Lohan, Dar Williams, and Laura Love. I would also credit Duke for my love of the blues, a genre I was only vaguely familiar with before his set that night.
I’ll get the negative out of the way first. Stomp! The Blues Tonight contains several tracks featuring guest vocals by singer Sunny Crownover, which seem dull in comparison to Duke’s solo tracks. Her voice isn’t bad, but there’s just something bland about her tone that doesn’t mesh well with this particular genre of music.
However, the rest of the album (particularly the title track) is infectious and full of life. The songs bounce around through blues, jazz, swing, and boogie woogie – sometimes within one song. It sounds like it was as fun to make as it is to listen to.
The liner notes include track-by-track comments from Robillard.
Duke Robillard – Stomp The Blues Tonight (mp3 expired) *
*mp3 posted w/ permission of Stony Plain Records
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