JAZZIN’ THE BLUES: Robillard |
In the liner notes to his new album, A Swingin’ Session with Duke Robillard, the guitarist writes, “For me, there’s a very thin line between the jazz and the blues. All the early jazz and big band players were adept and often great at playing the blues.” He goes on to cite the likes of Louis Armstrong, Ben Webster, Count Basie, and Charlie Parker.
This quote explains a lot about Robillard, and the terrain he has explored throughout his career. He has spent much of his life walking the broad line covering these overlapping styles, occasionally stepping into pure blues or pure jazz, but most often mingling the two in a potent cocktail.
On Swingin’, his 14th disc for Stony Plain, Robillard stretches into a spectrum of areas, all bound together by his passion for timeless sounds. You can hear Robillard’s musical curiosity in the way he tackles Ray Charles’s “Them That Got,” the bluesy barrelhouse of Hot Lips Page’s “They Raided the Joint,” and the sweet standard “The Song Is Ended” from the Irving Berlin songbook. Many of our fave studio aces accompany Robillard, including Scott Hamilton, Bruce Katz, Doug James, and “Sax” Beadle, plus Al Basile, Marty Ballou, Carl Querferth, and drummer Mark Teixeira. You can catch a good number of them this weekend when Robillard celebrates the release of A Swingin’ Session at Chan’s, 267 Main Street, Woonsocket, on Saturday (the 31st) at 8 and 10 pm. Call 401.765.1900.
Mike G & Associates
Guitarist/songwriter Mike Gendron has spent his career with GrandEvolution — at least for the past 300 or so gigs — plowing through New England with Sarah Kollett and Scott Kenyon. Now it’s time for Gendron to put GE on the back burner and take control of his own career, with a new band and a new album ready to roll.
The Traveler’s Diary is Gendron’s first shot at a new project and it’s a doozy. It heaves with big doses of hard rock chords, loose harmony vocals, and anthemic melodies. It’s easy to hear the inspirations at the heart of the Mike’s music: Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and many other soaring rockers. It’s meaty, too, and above all, singalong rock with sweat pouring from the grooves. He’s sincere as hell, he wants us to believe him, and these songs make a pretty convincing argument.
We’re not sure exactly what this means for GrandEvolution. But The Traveler’s Diary proves that Gendron needs to give this new venture a legitimate shot. It’s that good and should sound amazing live and loud. You can catch his new crew twice in the next couple of weeks at a pair of CD release bashes. On Friday, the’ll play an acoustic show at the Brooklyn Coffee & Tea House, 209 Douglas Avenue, Providence, with Whalebone Jackson and 60 Feet of Stupid. Call 401.575.2284. On Saturday, June 14, the band plays full-tilt electric at Mulhearn’s Pub, 507 North Broadway, East Providence, with Signs of Life and fellow Associate Pete Gendron opening. Call 401.438.9292. You can hear some of Mike’s new music at myspace.com/mikegsolo.
Shaun Hague
Got an e-mail this week from Shaun Hague, a local music friend who recently returned to Los Angeles. Shaun, a guitarist who had just gotten off a stellar gig with the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, took a crack at our local music scene, thinking perhaps there’d be some room for a newish kid on the block. Unfortunately, the climate, both literally and figuratively, didn’t suit him or his music. “My style of writing didn’t fit in Providence,” he wrote, “and the opportunity just wasn’t there like it is in Los Angeles.” While he was here — his stay lasted less than a year — he missed the West Coast, and he found him-self flying there for auditions in new backing bands for Pink and Daughtry, posts that he didn’t get. But since moving back, his luck changed and he’s swinging for the big-time fences. “I’ve played for John Fogerty and Tiffany, and opened a show for Dave Matthews,” he said. “Ten months back in New England and I had really nothing to show for it.”
Last weekend, Hague played the UCLA Jazz/Reggae Festival, gigging with Blue Note soul/folk singer-songwriter Amos Lee. Moving forward, he has been tapped to play guitar for an artist that goes by the name of Hodges. You can catch up on Shaun’s solo stuff, which is also worth more than a passing look, at myspace.com/shaunhague music.
Last Band Standing
Wanna play Lollapalooza? Well, get your ass in gear and start shilling for votes. Sonicbids is sponsoring a chance for your band to win a spot on the 2008 Lollapalooza lineup. Here’s how it works: Go to sonicbids.com and click on the “Get Started” button. You’ll be asked to submit and EPK to enter Round 1. The top 100 vote-getters make it to Round 2. Celebrity judges tap 20 of those top 100 for Round 3. Those top 20 bands upload a few more tracks and the voting continues through mid-July. The five finalists get a gig slot at the Double Door in Chicago, and two of those bands will be chosen by another celeb panel to play Lollapalooza. The selected band will be listed as part of the official lineup and receive an opening slot, a $1000 travel stipend, artist passes for the entire weekend, two hotel rooms for three nights at the Hilton in downtown Chicago, tickets for their friends the day of the band’s show, and tons of other prizes. Runners-up get prizes too. But it all starts with a click and, oh yeah, dig deep. There’s a $5 processing fee. Deadline is June 22.
