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Volume II
Issue 9 January 2000
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Memo from the World: Cadillac Slim by Alberta Moraine Duke Robillard is a missionary of sorts, spreading the good word that blues and jump music still know how, even in the Year 2000. Not long ago I accompanied friends to see Robillard's band play at a small-town club where the stage is just past the edge of the longest table, and your sight-lines depend on the coiffures of the people you sit behind. This place had no dance floor, a circumstance that just got sadder as the evening progressed. The band had been there and done that, clearly, and some fatigue seemed to dim things a little around the edges. But they were good for people-watching, particularly the bass player, in his black-framed wraparound orange space-age shades. He played upright mostly, and some bass guitar. The moment I was really waiting for, though, had to do with the microphone set up near him. I waited and waited, curious what this guy would do, if he would sing, or speak, or play another instrument, or what. No one else was going to use that mic - it was clearly there just for him. And he was so contained - the tight clothes, the tight mouth, the glossy bald head, those shades - I found it hard to picture him singing. Singing seemed so - loose, somehow. So about two-thirds into the set, with Duke telling a lengthy story in song, the bass player sings, too, for one chorus in unison with Duke. It was kind of great. Robillard had four guitars on stage, and used them all. In between songs, he did his own tuning - no dark-shirted roadies here. The Jetsons-style guitar he used on Cadillac Slim, the best song of the generous set, was part of the song's charm - there was no prehistory here that wasn't ready to rip. His playing was fast and musical and expert, taking us all along with him, afraid to look anywhere but straight ahead. The broadshouldered tenor and baritone sax player didn't even try to keep up, which was as it should be, and the drummer seemed right at home. Robillard plays well, sometimes extremely so. He's more versatile than this band, I would wager, and the best music happened when he sat down on a stool at the edge of the stage and relaxed and just played. I guess having founded Roomful of Blues, that august band, he just has to keep the flame burning, with lots of storytelling goofy jump songs. And perhaps that is what his audience wants to hear. He recently did a tribute to Louis Jordan at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Ruth Brown, and he was the right one to do it. But he was also careful to let us know he recently recorded with Scott Hamilton, on the Concord Jazz label. You have to know that Marian McPartland's label would not be signing up Roomful of Blues anytime soon. If you get the chance, give Duke Robillard a listen. More importantly, go where there's a dance floor, with someone who gives good weight. That way, if you get seated behind wide-necked large-haired chainsmokers, it won't really matter, because you'll be having too much fun. Duke Robillard's website is at http://www.rosebudus.com/robillard/ About our correspondent: Alberta Moraine was once afraid to dance. That was many years ago. |
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