CLICK ON TITLE BELOW TO GO TO PURCHASE!!!!
CD submissions accepted! Guest writers always welcome!!
I started a quest to find terrific blues music and incredible musicianship when I was just a little kid. I also have a tremendous appreciation of fine musical instruments and equipment. One of my greatest joys all of my life was sharing my finds with my friends. I'm now publishing my journey. I hope that you come along!
I just had the opportunity to review the newest release, Mid-Century Modern, from Al Basile and he's spot on. Sporting a who's who of musicians, Basile mixes blues, funk, rock and jazz for a real Mid-Century experience. Opening with Keep Your Love, Where's My Money, a slick new Orleans style track with a cool back beat, Basile and his crew, Rich Lataille, Duke Robillard, Bruce Bears, Doug James, Monster Mike Welch, Mark Teixeira and Brad Hallen set the club scene nicely. Basile sets a real nice table on cornet, complimenting his vocals and super stylized piano by Bears makes this track sing. Funky, Like You or Despise You, has a cool trumpet vamp by Jeff "Doc" Channonhouse and over a nice bass line by Hallen, Basile lays out a really cool cornet riff and Monster Mike's guitar work is slick. On Midnight Blue Persuasion, a straight R&B groove, Basile presents some of the top vocals on the release. This track has a real nice feel, like R&B from the 60's with his own cornet work on showcase. Tickle My Mule is a clever track with innuendo and I really like Monster Mike's guitar work on this track. Excellent! Really getting into the Louis Jordan swing thing , I've Gotta Have Meat, is great track and the band is really cooking. Rich Lataille and Doug James really shine on this track with hot sax work. Funky, Like A Woman, , Like A Man features Duke Robillard screaming hot on guitar with Albert King like riffs. I love King and this track is hot! Blank Dog has a really nice groove with saxes a blazing and snappy drum work by Mark Teixeira. Nice trumpet work by Doc and excellent guitar riffs compliment Basile's soulful cornet work making this another super track. Shuffle track, Carry These Blues has great warmth and sports great vocals and cornet work by Basile, nice trumpet work by Doc, essential piano backing and some real nice guitar riffs by Welch. Swampy, No Truth To The Rumor, rides heavy on the back of Hallen, with Bears laying in some terrific piano lines and Basile's cornet hot spots. On light shuffle, Listen To The Elders, Basile goes down more of a big band path with trumpet and sax work taking a stronger spot. James' work on bari sax is really hot and I always love Bruce Bears work on everything he does. Basile has a real nice hand with his cornet laying in just the right amount of seasoning. Soul track, Night Crossing, has strong radio bones with a funky bottom compliments of Hallen. Big Trees Falling is really nice and funky and Hallen is setting the pace. With Doc hitting the trumpet on rhythm, Basile steps up on cornet taking lead. Welch rips some really fat riffs over Bears clever piano riffs giving the track some really traction. Wrapping the release is Lie Under The House with Me, a quiet jazz track with an almost Miles feel. Basile takes some of his best horn rides on this track and Robillard sets up for a slam of his own on this one with nicely articulated guitar work. Calm and soulful, a nice closer for a different taste of blues.
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band!- ”LIKE”
For added exposure - Blues World Wide Group "LIKE"
I just received the newest release, Jumpin' & Boppin' from Kenny 'Blues Boss" Wayne and it's a swinging party. Opening with, Blues Boss Shuffle, and with hot solos from Dave Babcock on sax and duke Robillard on guitar, Boss really has this place hopping on piano. Bankrupted Blues features Boss on lead vocal with a really nice swinging guitar solo from Robillard and backing from Russell Jackson on bass, Charlie Jacobson on guitar, Joey DiMarco on drums and Babcock on sax. Very nice. Jumpin' & Boppin' For Joy is really hot with a boogie bottom. This track smokes with great speed and smoking hot solos from Robillard and Boss. Excellent! Blues Stew is low slung and easy. Sexy sax and nicely stated piano work compliments smooth vocals. Classic, You Don't Know Me, features Wayne on upfront vocals highlighted by his own piano and organ work and lightly peppered with guitar and rhythm. Babcock blows another sweet sax solo to cap off the tune. Blackmail Blues has a bit of Jimmy Reeds style. Jacobson and Wayne both take nice solos keeping to the structured blues style. On big band style rumble, Look Out! There's A Train Coming, Wayne and Babcock really get the place hopping. Robillard takes a nice solo and Babcock really gets deep on bari. Super track. On piano boogie, I Need Your Lovin', Jackson's bass work is particularly strong giving Wayne the freedon to solo boogie on piano. Excellent! Ciao, Ciao Baby has a super swing and Wayne and Babcock lead the way. Robillard dresses the track nicely with clean clear riffs and Wayne lays out some of the best vocals on the release. A cool solo on guitar sits simmers nicely in this clever track. Slow blues style, Back To Square One, has great dynamics with nicely blended piano, vocal and rhythm under smooth vocals and really nicely stylized guitar soloing. Very nice! On I'm Comin' Home, Sherman Doucette adds yet another dimension to this boogie woogie with harp. riffs. With change ups and soulful riffs by Doucette this track is soulful. Rock, Rock Little Girl is a hot "Little Richard" style rockin boogie with solid sax backing and of course rolling piano. A super hot rocker with smoking guitar riffs, this track is killer. Wrapping the release is Boogie To Gloryland. This is an excellent piano boogie instrumental and an nexcellent track to wrap a very nice release. Check it out!
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band!- ”LIKE”
For added exposure - Blues World Wide Group "LIKE"
Stony Plain Records Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary
with Special 3-CD Set of Music Including Rarities and Previously Unreleased
Tracks on June 3rd
EDMONTON, AB – Stony Plain Records, Canada’s premier
roots music label, announces a June 3rd release date for a special 3-CD set, 40
Years of Stony Plain, which includes cuts from its illustrious history
of albums, as well as a complete disc of rarities and previously unreleased
tracks.
“Celebrating Stony Plain’s 40th Anniversary
by putting together this specially priced three CD set has been a joy,” writes
label founder/president Holger Petersen in the album package. “Not only going
back over those years and selecting some of our favorite tracks, but to also
dig deeper to find rare and previously unreleased material by old friends Eric
Bibb, Duke Robillard, Maria Muldaur, David Wilcox, the late Bob Carpenter,
Walter ‘Shakey’ Horton and the legendary Sam Chatmon and His Barbeque Boys from
1979. With extensive notes and packaging, this stunning collection of 47 songs
will be a joyful surprise for true music fans everywhere.”
Long-time
label friend and celebrated Canadian publicist Richard Flohil contributes an
insightful timeline to Stony Plain’s history and contributions to the music
industry in his liner notes.
“As
I write, I realize that this is the seventh time that I’ve written this
opening sleeve note for a collection of music tracks for a Stony Plain Records
compilation,” states Flohil. “What’s ‘new’ in the history of this unique
Canadian roots music label? Answer: Not much — except, amazingly, that Stony
Plain’s still here, still releasing new music. And that it’s the oldest
independent record company (in Canada) that’s persevered for four decades with
the same ownership.
“Every
five years, starting with the label’s 10th anniversary, Stony Plain
has released a compilation of new and old material from the vaults. And every
five years, an opening sleeve note introduces (or re-introduces) the Stony
Plain story to the people who are listening to the music.”
Recognized
worldwide for its consistent quality roots and blues releases, one of Stony
Plains early fans was legendary Atlantic Records music producer and label
executive Jerry Wexler, who singled out the independent label for praise.
“The
Independent Label is the soul of the record biz; on one hand the fount and
nurturer of the new and untested, the eschewer of the Commercial Compromise,”
said Wexler. “On the other, it is the Enunciator of the Gospel of Low Overhead.
Behold the Stony Plain catalogue, not large but lapidary, and wonder how
(Holger Petersen) has done it with such small staff. And he always returns my
phone calls. He has a wonderful label, he presents wonderful music, and I
congratulate him.”
Stony
Plain Records has earned 6 Grammy nominations and a shelf full of Canadian
accolades, including 11 Juno Awards, some 20 Maple Blues Awards, and Canadian
Country Music Association awards as well. The Blues Foundation named Stony
Plain as the 2014 label of the year, and Holger Petersen as broadcaster of the
year in 2008. This year, he marks his 30th year as the host of Saturday
Night Blues, nationally broadcast every week on CBC Radio; he also
continues to host Natch’l Blues each week on CKUA after 47 years.
“Since
1976, Stony Plain has reflected its owners’ eclectic tastes, survived, and
continues to release vibrant, substantive music,” Richard Flohil writes. “The
label’s genesis goes back a little further than that — Petersen has been a
music addict since he was a little kid, and his enthusiasms have led him (often
simultaneously) in a variety of different directions.
“Petersen’s
also earned two honorary doctorate degrees from Athabasca University and the
University of Alberta, and — most important of all — was inducted into the
Order of Canada, the country’s highest civil honor, for his services to
Canadian culture in 2003.
“Having
released more than 400 albums since the label began at the kitchen table of a
suburban Edmonton house, Stony Plain continues to flourish. Amid dire
predictions of recorded music’s demise over the years, Stony Plain is still
here, thanks to the determination and enthusiasm of the people that founded the
label and those who work there. And Holger Petersen, at 66, is still having fun
and still finding artists and music and songs that turn him on and which he
thinks will appeal to people who care about the roots of popular music.”
For A Tour of the Stony Plain Offices: Produced by The Image Works, Connie Edwards and Doug
Cole.
I just received the newest release, Clinch! by The Blues Overdrive and I really like it! Opening with suspenseful track, Pistol Blues, this Danish band really understands it's craft. With a feel of North Mississippi and easy instrumentation by Martin Olsen on guitar and vocal, Andreas Andersen on guitar, Thomas Birck on bass and Lars Heiberg on drums these guys create an invite to their cool blues interpretation. Rolling Thunder steps up the rock feel but maintains the stripped down feel with cool double stopped guitar riffs. Cool! Shuffle track, Three Time Lover, starts to show more of the richness of Olsen's vocals and Olsen and Andersen compliment each other nicely as they trade lead/rhythm guitar riffs. Duke Robillard steps up with a signature solo of his own blending right in. Very cool! A little twist of Latin in the rhythm give Woman Of Love a more pop blues feel. Simple guitar riffs and overtones of JJ Cale make the track smooth and breezy. John Nemeth's Daughter of the Devil is one of my favorite tracks on the release having a bit of a Kimbrough feel. With it's swampy feel and tight guitar riffs (featuring Robillard) this is certainly one of my favorite tracks on the release! Jealous has a cool shadowy sound and maybe a track of early Black Keys. This track is infectious and with it's slightly out double stops is extremely effective in creating tension. It even has an underlying almost western guitar themed solo... excellent! Joel Patterson joins on Cherry providing a cool lap steel aura. With it's Latin rhythm this track is airy and fun. Another of my favorite tracks is blues rocker, Lay Your Burdon Down, again with a real stripped down feel and almost a John Kay feel. Vibrant guitar riffs on this track and tight drumming from Heiberg gives it an almost Jimi Hendrix blues taste. Very smart! Living Here With You is an excellent track with a JJ Cale style. With it's light funky rhythm and Mark Knopfler style lead guitar penned against it's David Gilmore like vamps, this track is sure a winner. Excellent! Wrapping the release is Aurora, a thick and greasy track with really rich guitar tones. Olsen's vocals are really soulful on this track and with it's strong blues flavor and even John Lee Hooker like blues riffs, is my favorite on the release. This is an absolute sleeper of a release that needs to be heard!
Check it out!!
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band!- ”LIKE”
I just received the newest release, B's Expression, from Al Basile and it has a nice groove. Opening with Whole Lot of Good Good Lovin', a smooth blues with a laid back cornet and vocal lead from Basile and Duke Robillard setting on a real nice guitar lead. Mark Teixeira on drums, Bruce bears on keys and Brad Hallen on bass hold down the bottom. On swinging, It Wasn't That Good, Bears on keys, Doug James on sax and Carl Querfurth form a warm bed for Basile's vocals. Bears takes a melodic key solo and Robillard lays down a sporty jazz/rock solo of his own. R&B based, Not Like I Do, has a cool bass line from Hallen. With a bit of a funky hitch, Basile steps up with a really nice cornet solo. Very cool. Hi steppin, Don't You Ever Get Tired Of Being Right really rides on the solid trombone work of Querfurth. Soulful vocals from Basile are tops and Bears lays out a nice piano solo. Basile sets in a short cornet solo of his own but this track is really about the vocals. Funky, I'm Runnin' Late, has a great bass line from Hallen and James and Querfurth pump up the middle. I really like Basile's cornet attack/soloing on this track. Very nice! Have I Given My Best has an earth spiritual feel (Will The Circle Be Unbroken) with a soulful twist. Some of Basile's nicest vocals on the release, this track is an easy airplay. Another hi stepper, Never Good Enough, has a distinct Al Green feel. Querfurth and James really do a nice job of punctuating this track throughout and Robillard adds some cleverly placed blues riffs of his own. I particularly like his guitar solo on this track nicely blending the funky R&B feel with definite blues riffs. Excellent! Somethin's Missing has an easy funky jazz feel again nicely punctuated by the horn section. Setting itself up nicely for Basile on cornet, he takes front and center laying down a nicely articulated solo. An easy sway led by Querfurth and James opens Answer Me, with it's Fagen like vocals. Robillard again nicely fuses hot blues riffs into this fusion track and Basile has great tone delivering solo lines of his own. Very nice! Funky, I Didn't Come Here To Lie, has a hot bass line by Hallen and solid horn lines keeping the track grounded. Basile's cornet work is so casual and sweet it fits perfectly. Ballad, Even Jesus Fell, has a soulful feel with a swing. Based mostly on horn base and nicely executed key work from Bears, it's a nice showcase for Basile on vocal and nice melodic guitar soloing by Robillard. Super R&B track, That Ain't Bad, has a nice weave of funky bass, horns and stinging guitar. Basile knows how deliver the goods vocally on this best of show and his cornet work is tight. Sweet! Wrapping the release is You Know - You Don't Know is opened by jazzy riffs by Hallen on upright bass. A quiet soothing track with carefully dabbed brushstrokes of cornet, piano, trombone, sax and guitar make this a masterful conclusion.
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band!- ”LIKE”
I just received the newest release, The Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard (September 25, 2015), by Duke Robillard and I personally think that's it's his best outing in years. This terrific exploration into American music begins with a sensitive acoustic guitar rendition of Stephen Fosters' My Old Kentucky Home. Very nice intro. Early blues track, Big Bill Broonzy's Big Bill Blues features Robillard on vocal and guitar and Matt McCabe on piano with just the right amount of swing. Very nice! Robillard original, I Miss My Baby In My Arms, has a really nice feel featuring Billy Novick on clarinet. His sensitivity on the stick contrasted against McCabes delicate piano work is perfect. Jimmie Rodger's, Jimmie's Texas Blues features Robillard on vocal (and yodeling), resonator and Mary Flowers on slide. An easy country blues track it has a very nice pace and warm feel. Novick is back on Robillard penned, Backyard Paradise, and it has a deliberate pace and Robillard's vocals are easy and smooth. Sunny Crownover takes the lead vocal on Robbie Robertson's waltz, Evangeline. With a pure earth feel, Robllard adds a number of stringed instruments and Jon Ross, the mandolin. Mary Flower on slide and Russell Gusetti on concertina give this track a real Appalachian feel. Excellent! Eric Moore's Left Handed is a solid blues number. Robillard's vocals are solid, acoustic guitar soloing is strong, McCabe hits a clear line on piano and Jerry Portnoy adds lush harp lines. Very cool! Eddie Miller's I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water has a more stripped down feel than what we customarily hear of this track and I really like it. Robillard's vocals are super and with only a uke rhythm and clean articulate acoustic soloing, it clearly stands out as one of the best of the release. There is also a cool solo on what sounds like a bowed bass. Very nice! Crowd favorite, I'm Gonna Buy Me A Dog (To Take Me The Place Of You), is another straight up blues number again featuring Portnoy on harp and McCabe on piano. Given a chance to take a nice walk, Portnoy does it with style. Nashville Blues is a vocal duet with Crownover and a bit of Piedmont guitar accompaniment. Mary Flower takes a real sweet lap slide solo on this number to close it out. WC Handy's Saint Louis Blues gets a real nice tribute with Novick on clarinet and Robillard on vocal. Robillard plays one of his coolest guitar solos on this number with simple and straight forward acoustic drive. Very cool! Hudson Whittaker's What Is It That Tastes Like Gravy? has a cool New Orleans sound with fine clarinet work by Novick. McCabe also takes the floor with strong, stylized piano riffs. Sleepy John Estes' Someday Baby (Trouble No More), keeps much of the primitive styling with Doug James on harp and Robillard on guitar and mandolin. One of my favorite tracks on the release, Hank Williams' Let's Turn Back The Years with traditional tex mex waltz like styling. Cool slide work from Flower and mando and guitar work by Robillard gives this track real traction. Robert Lockwood's Take A Little Walk With Me is a terrific track and McCabe really dresses the piano. Robillard's vocals work nicely with this track and placing electrifying acoustic guitar riffs throughout gives the track a more contemporary feel. Maria Muldaur takes the lead vocal on Santa Claus Blues and does an absolutely excellent job. Doug James on Bari and Dave Babcock on tenor really get this track swinging and Robillard plays some wonderfully wild jazz riffs along with Mark Teixeira on drums giving the track extra kick. Meade Lux Lewis' Profoundly Blue is a spectacular showcase for Robillard on acoustic guitar accompanied by Jay McShann on an extended piano solo. Excellent! Wrapping the release is Ukulele Swing featuring Robilard on a short little Uke ditty. This is a cool little track and a super conclusion to a very strong showing!
Not from the release but a good example of the work:
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band!- ”LIKE”
Stony Plain
Records Set to Release The Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard on
September 25
A Decade in the
Making, Latest Album from Multi-Award-Winning Guitarist Includes Special Guests
Maria Muldaur, Jay McShann, Jerry Portnoy and Sunny Crownover
EDMONTON,
AB – Stony Plain Records announces a September 25 release date for The
Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard, a very special album from
the two-time Grammy nominee and multi Blues Music Award winning guitarist that
focuses on the music that has informed his over 50-year career as a performing
artist, bandleader and producer of seminal American roots music. The Acoustic
Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard was recorded primarily at Duke’s
own Mood Room studio, with additional work done at Lakewest Recording and some
live recording done at the Blackstone River Theater in Cumberland, Rhode
Island.
“This
project has been about a decade in the making for various reasons I won't go
into here,” Duke Robillard says in the liner notes about the sessions for the
new CD. “As many of you know, I am, and always have been, a huge fan of
American roots music in its entirety. Blues, ragtime, early jazz, Appalachian
music, early country, swing, honky-tonk, folk, R&B, soul, New Orleans
music, rock and roll and all kinds of roots music have always moved and
inspired me the most. Especially the artists that were there at the beginning of
each style. Those artists always seem to be the most honest to my ears.”
Accordingly,
Robillard has fashioned an album that salutes many of those influences on the
new disc, demonstrating in the process the immense scope and breadth of the
talent that has made him one of the most revered and beloved musicians in the
world.
“With
this album I honor many of the pioneers of true American music, from close to
the beginning of recorded music to the 1940s,” Robillard declares. “This is the
time period I love most and find a never-ending river of new music to discover,
enjoy and be influenced/inspired by. This recording concentrates on music
written and recorded in the ‘20s to the ‘40s, with the exception of some
original songs and Robbie Robertson's ‘Evangeline,’ which sounds like it could
be from that time period!”
Besides
Duke’s lead vocals and multiple stringed instruments performed throughout The
Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard,the
all-star backing cast includes special guest vocalists Maria Muldaur and Sunny
Crownover, former Muddy Waters band member Jerry Portnoy on harmonica and the
late, Kansas City piano legend Jay McShann. Other players include Mary Flower –
acoustic finger style and lap slide guitar and vocal; Marty Ballou and John Packer
- acoustic bass; Matt McCabe – piano; Mark Teixeira and Marty Richards – drums;
Billy Novick – clarinet; Doug James - baritone sax and harmonica; Dave Babcock
- tenor sax; Jon Ross – mandolin; Russell Gusetti – concertina and the
Providence Mandolin Orchestra.
Robillard
taps into his wellspring of great American music songbook knowledge by covering
everything from such blues icons as Big Bill Broonzy, W.C Handy, Sleepy John
Estes, Robert Lockwood and Pete Johnson, to country legends Hank Williams,
Jimmie Rodgers and the Delmore Brothers, with a nod to traditional popular
music from writers including Stephen Foster. And Duke gets an early jump on the
holiday season with the inclusion of “Santa Claus Blues,” featuring the soulful
vocals of Maria Muldaur and written by one of America’s best pop music
composers, Gus Kahn.
The
Acoustic Blues & Roots of Duke Robillard – Track Listing
1
My Old Kentucky Home 1:25
2
Big Bill Blues 3:35
3
I Miss My Baby in My Arms 3:15
4
Jimmie's Texas Blues 3:08
5
Backyard Paradise 2:39
6
Evangeline featuring Sunny Crownover 3:01
7
Left Handed 3:06
8
I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water 3:25
9
I'm Gonna Buy Me a Dog (To Take the Place of You) 5:15
10
Nashville Blues featuring Mary Flower 3:07
11
St Louis Blues 5:07
12
What Is It That Tastes Like Gravy? 3:04
13
Someday Baby 3:17
14
Let’s Turn Back the Years 2:37
15
Take a Little Walk with Me 7:04
16
Santa Claus Blues featuring Maria Muldaur 2:50
17
Profoundly Blue feat. Jay McShann 3:46
18
Ukulele Swing 0:46
About
Duke Robillard
Duke Robillard’s career path
was set in 1967 when he founded the iconic Roomful of Blues, later holding down
the guitar spot in The Fabulous Thunderbirds (following Jimmie Vaughan’s
departure from that band), then working with rockabilly maverick Robert Gordon
and recording two albums with the Legendary Blues Band (a sterling group
of former members of Muddy Waters’ bands). In addition, Duke has logged countless gigs over the years as a producer, bandleader and
guitar player with a plethora of giants of blues, roots and jazz music.
That laundry list includes late icons such as Big Joe Turner, Jimmy
Witherspoon, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Jay McShann, Rosco Gordon and Herb
Ellis, as well as contemporaries Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Jay Geils, Joe Louis Walker,
Billy Boy Arnold and Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne.
Since 1980, Duke’s been a touring bandleader for 98% of the
time with nearly 30 albums to his credit under his own name. He is the
true link from those great artists of the past to the current and future of
roots music. With the recent passing of B.B. King and the aging of other blues
elders, Duke continues to carry his blues torch held high, leading the music
from the wilderness into the light. In recognition of his lifetime
achievements, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in May
of 2014.
I just received the newest release, Modern Classic, from Robin Banks and it has an appeal all it's own. I've listened to this a number of times now and it has a clearness and clarity that is rarely heard in today's music. Opening with A Man Is Just A Man, Banks demonstrates the clarity of her voice and also her intentions of making a album of music that came out of a '57 Chevy. It has that kind of simple human quality. Superhero is a easy bop with really nice guitar work from Duke Robillard. Again the sound is early sixties pop. I Really Dig You goes back even a bit further to possibly Dinah Washington and that early pop jazz sound. Bruce Bears on keys and Robillard spice up the track with clarity and swing and Mark Early lays out a real nice sax solo as well. Crazy has some really cool guitar effects and Doug James really lays in some nice Bari sax. Mark Teixeira keeps the rhythm tight giving it a nice sparkle and again Early steps up and kicks it! My Baby Loves Me has a real nice easy swing and Doug Woolverton hits the muted trumpet. The bluesiest track on the release is also my favorite and possibly the best demonstration of Banks vocal style. Robillard lays down some really nicely articulated guitar solos and Doug James bottom supplied sax is tops. A Little Bit Of Heaven has a Latin feel with Teixeira coaxing pure rhythm out of the track. Bruce Bears riffs sound like they were born in Cuba and Banks is spot on vocally. Robillard lays in a light fingered Latin guitar solo and Brad Hallen takes on the lead instrumentally with Bears as the track steps up to full swing. I'll Meet You There has an Al Green R&B feel but with more southern soul vocals. Early again steps up with a hot sax solo and Banks vocal duet and Woolverton on trumpet gives it that Memphis sound. Bears opens Tonight with spy piano riffs and Banks gets into that pop jazz swing. Bears and Robillard trade instrumental lead on this track and even Hallen and Teixeira get into the action. Cool! Bite Your Tongue has that good southern funky soul with horn punctuation. Bears takes a hot organ solo and Robillard throws down as well. A sassier vocal style on this track really lends itself nicely to the styling. On boogie track, You Boogie Too Fast For Me, Bears and Hallen give the boogie a ride. A slick piano interlude by Bears adds significantly to the overall feel. Ballad, A Place In The City, finds Bears delivering a gospel or Robbins if you will, piano style giving the track a country sound. Robillard lays down some double stop guitar work that even more enforces the overall country sound. Wrapping the release is Some Day Soon, another pop jazz track with Banks swinging out. Bears is light and bright on the keys and Teixeira on brushes allows the warmth of Hallen to come through having the feel of a true jazz trio (quartet with vocal). This is a different kind oof blues for a lighter listen but I believe that there is a strong audience out there for exactly this.
If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band!- ”LIKE”
Canadian Roots
Music Singer Robin Banks Creates a Modern Classic on New CD, Produced by
Duke Robillard, Due November 25
Toronto, ON – Canadian roots music singer Robin Banks
announces a November 25 release date for her self-released CD, Modern
Classic, with distribution through CD Baby. Produced by acclaimed
guitarist/producer Duke Robillard, who also adds his amazing guitar tones
throughout the album, Modern Classic features a dozen all-original
songs that showcase not only Robin’s sultry, soulful vocals, but also her
strengths as a composer. Along with Robillard, she’s backed by an all-star band:
Bruce Bears (keyboards), Mark Teixeira (drums), Brad Hallen (bass) and a horn
section that includes Doug James (baritone sax), Doug Woolverton (trumpet) and
Mark Early (sax) of the Roomful of Blues Horns.
Based in Toronto, Robin Banks has already amassed a lengthy
career as a touring and recording artist in both her native Canada and all over
the world. She’s played extensively in the U.S. as well as Germany, Austria,
Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, France and Jamaica. The songs on Modern
Classic reveal an artist comfortable in a variety of idioms from jazz
and pop to blues, soul and R&B. With the sympathetic support of Robillard
and company backing her, Robin has crafted an album of scintillating grooves
that alternately percolate with heat, and float like a butterfly around the
musical notes the band creates in the air around her. She has a voice that’s
been compared to such greats as Etta James and Dinah Washington. Rather than
just a collection of songs, Modern Classic, with its insightful
lyrics, strong melodies and flowing, artful presentation, commands listeners to
embrace its entirety, similar to the way albums were recorded (and listened to)
in the golden age of music recording from the 1960s and ‘70s.
The music on Modern Classic covers ground
ranging from Memphis and Muscle Shoals-rooted blues and soul, to swing,
boogie-woogie, honky-tonk and sweet sounding jazz, compliments of Robin’s
amazing pipes. After the recording sessions, Duke Robillard declared, “the songs
on her new CD bring together all her talents in a way that shows her as a major
force in roots music;” while keyboardist Bruce Bears called her “a hidden gem
from Canada who deserves much wider recognition; I’ve never worked with a
vocalist who had as much command of musical language and nuance as
Robin.”
Robin Banks grew up 50 miles east
of Detroit on a tobacco farm and drove a taxi in Toronto in the ‘80s to help
support her singing career’s beginnings. In 1992, she
put her blues band together near Windsor, Ontario, and was mentored by George
“Wild Child” Butler and Alford “Chicago Pete” Harrell, while performing
regionally. In 1997, Robin won Canada’s Maple Blues Award for New Artist of the
Year, which was followed by performances at some of Canada's most-prominent jazz
and blues festivals. That same year saw the release of her debut CD,
Permanent Record, which included seven original compositions, and
was followed by Robin going to Memphis and competing in the world-famous
International Blues Challenge. She was later nominated in 1998, 2010 and 2011
for Female Vocalist of the Year at the Maple Blues Awards.
In 1999, she moved to Texas and
stayed for seven years, forming several bands around the Dallas/Fort Worth area
with such blues/roots luminaries as drummer Marc
Wilson (Anson and the Rockets), bassist Drew Allain (Mike Morgan and the Crawl),
guitarists Brian “Hash Brown” Calway and Johnny Moeller (Fabulous Thunderbirds),
drummer Danny Cochran (Delbert McClinton), bassist Bill Campbell (LaVern Baker)
and tenor sax man Marchel Ivery (Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers), among many
others. During this time, Robin formed a very close and special personal
friendship with the legendary singer/harmonica player Sam Myers, leader of Anson
and the Rockets, who also played on her Honestly CD in 2000, comprised of 13 original songs that she wrote,
arranged and produced. A year later, Robin recorded and released a live
CD, titled Live after Dark, and toured regionally for the next
four years throughout the region, as well as performing at many
festivals.
In 2003,
she toured Europe for the first time, with stops in Belgium and Holland. And
in 2006, she relocated to Jamaica and became a hit there for three years,
performing at nightclubs, festivals, resorts and hotels across the island with
some of that country’s most-prominent musicians, including members of Bob
Marley’s band. Robin returned home to Canada in 2009 and has been based there
ever since. She now performs in two bands: one a
straight blues group and the other a bit more diverse in its musical spectrum,
including elements of jazz, jump blues, soul, R&B and even reggae. She
continues to gig around 200 nights a year.
Her last
CD, released in 2010, was an album she co-wrote and produced in Dallas, titled
Livin' Life, with pianist/artist Christian Dozzler, and was
comprised of 14 original compositions. She also toured behind that CD with
visits to Jamaica, Canada, Texas and three tours of Europe, including numerous
concert and festival shows. One of the big
festivals that she played in Europe behind Livin' Life was
Gaildorf, the oldest (and one of the most prized) blues fest in
Europe/Germany.
“Since
returning to Canada, I have traveled back and forth from Jamaica probably 20
times to perform and remain prolific there,” Robin says. “I keep all my ties in
Texas strong and open. In Jamaica, much like Texas and Canada, I am blessed to
play with some of the highest level international musicians on the island,
including Grammy award winners and the head of the music program at the arts
college in Kingston.”
