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	Related Links Duke Robillard's official Web site Bill Kisliuk reviews Duke Robillard's Living with the Blues Ronnie Earl's official Web site Bill Kisliuk reviews Ronnie Earl's I Feel Like Goin' On

"THESE ARE TUNES I’VE DUG and wanted to play for 35 or 40 years," Jay Geils, the guitarist who lent his name to the classic American rock band he co-founded in 1967, says of his new Jay Geils Plays Jazz (Stony Plain). "When I was 10 or 11, my dad took me to hear Louis Armstrong, and I got it. I said, ‘This is what I want to do.’ "

It took Geils only a two-decade stint in an R&B-infused rock-and-roll juggernaut, a string of hits and radio staples including "Must of Got Lost" and "Centerfold," a reconnection with roots music in Bluestime with his Geils mate Magic Dick, and tenure in the swinging New Guitar Summit to get there.

Rest assured that Jay Geils Plays Jazz isn’t a rocker’s or bluesman’s holiday. It’s a fun-but-serious jazz album with a brilliant cast of sidemen including tenor-saxist Scott Hamilton and clarinettist Billy Novick. And Geils plays gracefully, turning down the volume and sculpting a smooth tone. The arrangements dial up the right ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s vibe but leave the soloists, including Geils, plenty of freedom. And he sounds terrific, whether he’s mixing gentle chords and single notes in Duke Ellington’s "Solitude" or dishing out the smoky, exuberant melody of Bill Doggett’s "Honey Boy."

"I’ve always just been interested in being a good musician," he observes. "I had no idea I was going to end up being in the same business as Sammy Davis Jr., which is show business. When you’re in a big rock-and-roll band, you’re in show business. A lot of the tunes on the new album have chord progressions that are harder to navigate than blues changes. It’s only been over the last 10 years or so that I’ve had time to woodshed and really play them right, and it’s so much fun."

Indeed, the respected jazz guitarist and educator Gerry Beaudoin, who along with Duke Robillard is Geils’s partner in New Guitar Summit, says that when he initially played with Geils in 1992, "I expected swinging blues, but all of a sudden Jay started calling off Charlie Christian tunes. Over the last 10-plus years, I’ve seen him go from being a good jazz guitarist to a consummate, astute jazz guitarist with his own take on the music."

Geils can still rock, as the occasional J. Geils Band reunion proves. On February 26, they played a benefit for the Cam Neely Foundation at Harvard Square’s Regattabar. "We get together about every six years whether we need to or not," he jokes. But he’s already at work on another jazz album.

Oh and if you’ve ever wondered what his real first name is, it’s John. "My nickname has been Jay since kindergarten," he explains. "When we got serious about the Jay Geils Blues Band, which became the J. Geils Band, we figured the ‘J’ with a period would be cooler. So I make a point of using Jay so nobody confuses anything I do alone or in other groups with the J. Geils Band."

NEW ENGLAND BLUES STAR Sweet Willie D. doesn’t merely understand the connections between blues and gospel. He lives them. Before relocating to Massachusetts, he was a deacon in his New Jersey church, and after he and his band the Continental Walk got a toehold in the regional blues scene, he began performing gospel, too.

"I’ve even been adding gospel to some of my blues shows," he explains. "At first, I tried to keep the styles separated because gospel is really personal to me, but they’re so closely related in their messages that I wanted to see how they’d work together."

So far, so good. So good, in fact, that word of mouth about his residency with the choir at the Unity on the River Church in Amesbury — whose members he’s helped transform into old-fashioned Southern-style praise singers — attracted members of Salem’s Beacon Christian Academy, who in turn asked D. to take the reins for their annual fundraiser at Boston’s Tremont Temple. The April 9 benefit pairs Sweet Willie D. and the Continental Walk — expanded to 12 pieces with four backing singers, piano, Hammond B-3, and an extra horn — with bluegrass virtuoso Ricky Scaggs, who has recently turned down the gospel road. Sweet Willie D.’s portion of the show will be recorded for a possible live CD.

NEW ENGLAND BLUES FANS have a new Web site — www.barrelhouseblues.com — that showcases a wealth of bands on the regional scene from Shirley Lewis to Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts as well as important national performers like Otis Taylor and Bobby Bland. Venues, too, plus links to blues societies scattered across the country and dozens of song downloads, videos, photos, and more. Right now there’s an in-depth interview with Mighty Sam McClain, who’s just finished a strong album he’s shopping to labels. For newcomers, Boston-based Barrelhouse Blues is a thorough introduction to the contemporary scene. For diehards, the depth of coverage, easy navigation, and wealth of material will invite many return trips.

Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters play the Regattabar, in the Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett Street in Harvard Square, this Saturday, March 26; call (617) 395-7757. Sweet Willie D. and Continental Walk play the Beacon Christian Academy benefit at Tremont Temple, 88 Tremont Street in Boston, on April 9; call (866) 468-7619.