CD Reviews

Duke Robillard

Worl Full of Blues | Stony Plain

By TED DROZDOWSKI | June 26, 2007

3.0 Stars

Duke Robillard has released four albums and a DVD over the past three years, and if that’s not enough to convince you that this New England–bred blues and jazz guitar legend is prolific, you might note that his new World Full of Blues boasts 23 tunes on two CDs. As the title suggests, those songs slice through every root and offshoot of the blues. Maybe Robillard’s stint as Tom Waits’s tour guitarist in 2006 fueled his creativity, because here he rumbles through T-Bone Walker’s swinging “Treat Me So Lowdown” and knocks out the dirty Chicago grind “You’re Killin’ Me Baby” with the same élan he brings to the mesmerizing, Wes Montgomery–inspired “Stoned.” The native Rhode Islander deploys his impeccable tone on the frayed Mississippi-juke-joint arrangement of “Everything Is Broken,” a tune penned by another of his famous ex-bosses, Bob Dylan. And “Low Side of the Road” gets its Waits-like voodoo vibe from a mix of electric and acoustic guitars and some lute-like saz. The messin’ ’round’s not limited to guitar tones, either — Robillard drops to his lowest vocal register to echo Bo Diddley’s dusty howl for the rock grandpappy’s “Who Do You Love.” It all culminates in “Stretchin’,” nearly 10 minutes of the evocative soul-jazz, guitar-and-organ-combo sound invented by Jimmy Smith. And everything on these CDs is played with total command.

Duke Robillard | Blues Barge Series, Boston Harbor Hotel, 70 Rowes Wharf, Boston | June 28 | 617.439.7000 | Johnny D’s, 17 Holland Street, Somerville | June 29 | 617.776.2004