Duke Robillard & His All-Star Band — Blast Off!
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Prior to Blast Off!, here’s a quick pre-flight checklist to run through.
What is the common, shared thread connecting this constellation of stars? The Fabulous Thunderbirds’ Walk That Walk, Talk That Talk and Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind. Chicago guitarist Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater’s Cool Blues Walk, New Orleans R&B soulman Johnny Adams’ Room With a View of the Blues and foundational Chicago harpist Snooky Pryor’s Too Cool to Move. Don’t forget Joe Louis Walker’s Between a Rock and the Blues and Ruth Brown’s A Good Day For the Blues. Nor can you miss out on Conversations in Swing Guitar held with jazz fretsman Herb Ellis or the New Guitar Summit entered in with Jay Geils (yes, that J. Geils).
Answer: Duke Robillard and his get-around guitar.
The esteemed duo can be heard on those as well as scads of other records. Within that grand tally resides an independent mountain of his own solo albums—of which Blast Off! now brings that separate total up to an impressive 38. The sprawling discographies of John Lee Hooker and Lightnin’ Hopkins are getting a run for their money.
Given Robillard’s diversified experiences and broad stylistic tastes, Blast Off! expectedly widens its setlist. It helps that his All-Star Band—with pianist/organist Bruce Bears, bassist Marty Ballou, and drummer Mark Teixeira as the backbone—can play anything thrown their way: 1960s New Orleans funk (Lee Dorsey’s “Confusion”)? Check. Deep dive into 1950s funhouse obscurity (the Rocking Brothers’ instrumental “Play Boy Hop”)? Piece of cake, right down to the foghorn blasts from Doug James’ baritone saxophone. Or what about jousting with 1930s jive that closes out on a brassy, blowout finale (“I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead (You Rascal You))”? Also, no problem. And also the only chance to hear Duke’s distinctively articulate voice, openly trading menacing barbs in a knife fight disguised as a duet.
Because the nimble-fingered 77-year-old has laid off singing of late, entrusting that responsibility to second guitarist Chris Cote—the one seen belting “Lowdown,” the album’s leadoff single and official video, into the mic. The roadhouse brawler of a song holds a sweet spot for Robillard. In 2006, he served as the on-the-road guitarist for its composer: rattrap growler Tom Waits, whose tour included performing on the Late Show with David Letterman. (That’s Duke, stage left, lighting up a gorgeously curvaceous hollow-body.)
The musical universe keeps expanding. “Look a There, Look a There” offers a tip of the headstock to Tampa Red, the pre- as well as post-war Chicagoan known for his slide guitar and prolific songwriting. Classic Southern soul seeps out in the aptly-titled “Warm and Tender Love,” Percy Sledge’s Billboard-climbing ballad that fared better than did its 1966 flipside in “Sugar Puddin’.” Then a jarring zag into “Stand By Me.” No, not Ben E. King’s soulfully swaying song by the same name. But the spring-loaded bopper belonging to Guitar Slim, whose devout fan club includes not only Robillard but also Buddy Guy and Jimi Hendrix. Sorry—as is often the case with a Slim piece, you can’t sit this lively one out.
Three of the 12 tracks are originals. Two of them are opportune products of spontaneous generation in the studio: the sleek title track and the likewise wordless “Galactic Grease.” “Feel My Cares,” however, has been stewing for a while. A long, long while. In fact, Robillard’s restless guitar has been patiently longing to lash out on this minor-key blues ever since being written—but never recorded—at the age of 17.
That dates to the timeframe when Duke’s tale famously began.
It is 1967. Off in the wilds of Rhode Island, pangs are again stirring in young Mike Robillard, who sets out to do what legions of other red-blooded, guitar-toting teenagers are doing at that time: start a band. But there is a twist. Because rather than craving fuzz boxes, wah-wah pedals or refrigerator-sized Marshall amplifiers, the pre-Duke guitarist would rather indulge in—wait for it—horns. When the saxophones do arrive, so does the capacity to jump and swing the blues, like on those 1940s and ’50s records which Robillard wore out on his turntable. A Room Full of Blues—soon to be shortened to Roomful of Blues—had been born. (The detailed play-by-play of Duke’s musical adventures resides at the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame Historical Archive, including Roomful’s ill-fated pairing with The Blues Brothers, Dan Ackroyd and a beer-spewing John Belushi.)
That yearning to jump and swing hasn’t yet let up after all those years. And horns—ah, those glorious horns—remain Duke’s essential bling. Case in point: “When I Get Lucky” gusts with tremendous bounce. Its pace hypes all the more from Cote’s excitable voice toying with the idea of driving up envy by cruising a Cadillac. Chalk this one up to another of Robillard’s favorites: Floyd Dixon, the pianist popularly remembered for “Hey, Bartender.”
Yet if swing is really your thing, then why not go big—by going Basie? The luxury unit formed by a
clarinet plus a cluster of saxes is just as invaluable for Duke Robillard now as when their lush, concerted thrust first propelled “The King” for Count Basie back in 1946. This time, though, Duke’s warm, sparkling jazz chops skim and solo across the melody for all to readily appreciate versus straining to pick out the crucial, minimalist, comping guitar of Mr. Rhythm, Freddie Green. Swinging in such grand style, you can hear the smile beaming on Robillard’s face.
At that high point, Blast Off! pretty much sums up his frame of mind.
Label: Nola Blue
Release date: 2/20/26
Artist website: Duke Robillard.com
Label website: Nola Blue Records.com
Reviewed by Dennis Rozanski
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