Jazz Articles about Duke Robillard

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Peter Parcek: Most Of The Time

by Doug Collette
August 14, 2026

The contemporary blues community is densely populated with posers long on affectation and short on authenticity. Not so Peter Parcek for whom the blues carries truths that resonate in such a deep and abiding way that his own musical articulations, plus those of kindred spirits within and without the genre, become expressions straight from the heart and the soul. In fact, as demonstrated on Most Of The Time, this native of Connecticut--who moved to England in the Sixties ...

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Bob Dylan: Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17

by Mike Jurkovic
February 4, 2023

Dylanologists of every stripe and level of Dylanalia had it partly right when Bob Dylan released Time Out Of Mind (Columbia) in mid-September 1997. “Great album!" They/we/us all screamed. “Great songs!" “Dylan's best since the totemic Blood On the Tracks!" (Columbia, 1975) “Mid-career masterwork!" “The Bard's New Relevance!" If you weren't there the first time it really was a Category 5 idiot wind of biblical proportion. In the chalk dust arena of popular punditry, the second enfant ...

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Scott Hamilton and Duke Robillard: Swingin' Again

by Kyle Simpler
September 2, 2021

In 1987, Duke Robillard released the album Swing (Rounder), a successful combination of jazz and jump blues. He got his old friend, tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton to help him out with the recording. Although Robillard is primarily known as a blues guitarist, the record made it obvious that jazz is also deeply rooted in his musical DNA. With Swingin' Again, he revisits the jazz world, and he once again teams up with Hamilton to help him out. Robillard ...

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The Duke Robillard Jazz Trio: Wobble Walkin'

by Dan Bilawsky
April 4, 2012

Guitarist Duke Robillard may be widely praised for his blues bona fides, but calling him a blues guitarist is a bit limiting. While his work with Roomful of Blues and his stint with the Fabulous Thunderbirds have earned him a large fan base and some well-deserved respect in the blues and guitar communities, he's proven himself equally conversant in jazz and elsewhere. Blues music remains his bread and butter, but albums like After Hours Swing Session (Rounder, 1990), Conversations In ...

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New Guitar Summit: Shivers

by Mike Perciaccante
August 10, 2008

The second album from the triumvirate of virtuoso guitarists J. Geils, Duke Robillard and Gerry Beaudoin is another set of vintage jazz-blues in which the three guitarists improvise while prodding, teasing and pushing each other to greater heights. While only four of the tracks are originals written by one or more members of the group, each track fits comfortably within the swing-bop-jazz-blues context of the album.

On Shivers the three are joined by yet another brilliant guitarist, Randy ...

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Duke Robillard and Herb Ellis: More Conversations in Swing Guitar

by Dan McClenaghan
April 7, 2003

On the surface, the pairing of these two guitarists from different generations might seem an odd match. Duke Robillard is the founder of Roomful of Blues, has played with Eddie “Cleanhead" Vinson, Big Joe Turner, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bob Dylan. Herb Ellis, the elder half of this duo, has played with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Oscar Peterson, from Billie Holiday to Ella Fitzgerald. But from the very opening notes of More Conversations in Swing Guitar (the follow-up to '99s ...

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Duke Robillard: Living with The Blues

by Charlie B. Dahan
February 1, 2003

Duke Robillard is a true, if not, under-appreciated, treasure of American music. Since he broke into the music business with the band he help found, Roomful of Blues, Duke has recorded over twenty albums in over twenty years, relying upon virtuostic hands on his guitar and a keen ear for traditional and contemporary styles. Never one to be pigeonholed, Robillard has explored the many faces of jazz, blues and roots music, usually blending them into crafty and tasty recordings. For ...