We should thank Robillard for reprising and reinventing classic American music in an age when real musicianship gets short shrift while shallow theatrics can earn you a stint on American Idol. Call me cranky, but I'd rather swing.
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For his latest release in a long association with Canada's Stony Plain label, guitarist and singer Duke Robillard digs deep into the American songbook of jazz classics and throws in a couple of original instrumentals for good measure.
A Swingin' Session does much more than spotlight Robillard's nimble guitar work and nuanced vocals. Backed by his longtime bandmates and some former Roomful of Blues colleagues, Robillard directs the spotlight just as often on the horns and keyboards. Like one of his heroes, Duke Ellington, Robillard plays his band like an instrument, and that comes naturally for these dozen players who share an affinity for the place where jazz meets blues. Many of these musicians hail from Robillard's Rhode Island stomping grounds, including such familiar names as Gordon Beadle (tenor and baritone sax), Al Basile (cornet), Scott Hamilton (tenor sax), and Carl Querfurth (trombone).
The songs come from familiar sources, but they're not necessarily well known to modern listeners, so the setlist sounds fresh. Ray Charles' "Them That Got" features great piano work by Bruce Katz, and Basile's muted cornet punctuates Irving Berlin's "The Song Is Ended." Robillard's charisma as a vocalist shines, especially on the Charles number.
Blues and jazz scholars might pore over the obscure song selections and Robillard's approach to the arrangements, but none of that matters to the people who go to his shows. What makes this material work is what happens on the dance floor when a band swings this hard. We should thank Robillard for reprising and reinventing classic American music in an age when real musicianship gets short shrift while shallow theatrics can earn you a stint on American Idol. Call me cranky, but I'd rather swing.
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