Anything musical that has the name Duke Robillard associated with it is worth checking out in my opinion.  I've never been let down, and the streak continues with two new offerings with the Duke fingerprints on them.  The first is the debut cd of singer Sunny Crownover called Introducing Sunny and Her Joy Boys which was produced by Duke.  The second is a stellar new blues disc called Stomp the Blues Tonight by Duke Robillard's Jumpin' Blues Revue, both out on Canada's Stony Plain Records.  If you're not familiar with Stony Plain you need to check them out.  In their stable you find not only Duke Robillard but Joe Louis Walker, Rodney Crowell, the late Jeff Healy, Rory Block, Ronnie Earl, and other lesser know artists.  Robillard first heard Sunny sing at Harvard University in 2007 and said he knew then that he'd found the voice for a project he'd been mulling over for years which became Introducing Sunny and Her Joy Boys.  The mission of the project Robillard says was to "salute the golden era of women vocalists of the ‘20s through the ‘50s, where big bands and small combos alike created classic American pop, swing and blues songs of the day." The acoustic band arranged for this session provides a fabulous background for Sunny's stunning voice.  Sunny is joined by Billy Novick on clarinet and alto sax, Duke on acoustic archtop guitar, Paul Kolesnikov on acoustic archtop guitar and Jesse Williams on acoustic bass. Sunny obviously stands out on vocals, but the other delight for me on this disc was the work of Billy Novick.  His clarinet work fits so well in these tunes that it made me think there must be some way to incorporate this instrument into more of today's music. The disc is stuffed with 14 classics, one of which is also on the disc as a video, You're My Thrill. This tune is a 1933 tune by Jay Gorney which has been done by Ella, Billie, and Abbey Lincoln on the jazz end as well as Joni Mitchell and Robert Palmer.  This version is a sparse haunting version featuring Billy's clarinet that would make Cassandra Wilson proud.

Most of the tunes are more upbeat, including versons of Strictly From Dixie, done by Ella Fitzgerald and fitting since Sunny is a native Texan (although now an east coaster).  Other tunes you will recognize include Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea which was written by Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen, and recorded by Cab Calloway in 1931, and the Duke Ellington classic I Got It Bad (and that ain't good). If you like tunes from this era you'll love this disc!

While the Sunny disc may be a good sunday morning disc, Stomp the Blues Tonight is much better suited for saturday night! This is the high energy blues stuff that has been Duke's bread and butter, the stuff that filled the Roomful of Blues which Duke Robillard founded some 42 years ago.  The new disc could be described as "roomful', challenging the maximum time available on a cd. It checks in with 16 tunes at over 66 minutes.  From the first chords of the opener Stomp the Blues Tonight, a Duke original, to the closing of Roy Milton's Early in the Morning this is a high energy joy ride.  Rarely does the tempo slow, but when it does, its good to take a break, such as on Johnny Watson's Three Hours Past Midnight. Want an instrumental; you've got it with the traditional Frankie and Johnny.  Sunny Crownover adds her vocals to this disc as well on 6 of the cuts. If this doesn’t make your toe tap, you must not have toes.

Duke has been on the music scene for years, working steadily since his conception of Roomful of Blues in 1967. He has won the “Best Blues Guitarist” award from the Blues Music Awards (previously W.C. Handy awards) four times in the last eight years. He received a Grammy nomination in 2007 for his Guitar Groove-a-rama CD. His discography takes up multiple pages on his website.  A National Treasure he certainly is to the music world! Duke Robillard and Jim McCarty at Callahan’s on 8-24-08 Longtime Detroit DJ Gene Elzy had a long running show on public radio on which he played what he called “the bluesy side of jazz and the jazzy side of the blues.” This aptly describes what Duke is now doing with the new CD, although his career has revolved more around all shades of the blues. The new disc has 10 tunes, 8 of them covers. He digs way back for some of the tunes, such as the great opener “‘Deed I Do,” written in 1926 and made famous by Perry Como in 1957. This version is a very jazzy version laced with sax, guitar and organ. The next tune is the standout one for me, a traditional called “The Lonesome Road.” This tune comes essentially in two parts. The first is a slow melancholy bit of acoustic guitar and horn that gives the feel of a slow lonesome journey, but something happens in the middle. The tempo picks up and the mood electrifies as if to say, “if I’m going down a lonesome road at least I might as well dance!” The disc is worth it for this track alone! Another standout is “Meet Me at No Special Place” (and I’ll be there at no particular time), a 1944 composition. One of his two originals, “Red Dog,” seems to show Duke tipping his hat to his jazz forefathers. The tune is an upbeat instrumental that definitely borrows heavily from Miles Davis’ classic “So What.” What you have here is a classic performer playing some classic music while at the same time honoring the writers and players who have inspired and influenced him. If Duke comes to your town do yourself a favor and go see him. Better yet, bring along a young musician who Duke could influence and help carry the spirit of this music on to another generation!