Duke Robillard - Dangerous Place (1997) [CD Rip]

Duke Robillard's place in blues history seems secure - the founder of Roomful of Blues, a stint in the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and a veteran of sessions with such venerable bluesmen as Snooky Pryor, Jimmy Witherspoon, John Hammond and Pinetop Perkins, R&B queen Ruth Brown, the king of Kansas City swing Jay McShann, and rock legend Bob Dylan - and in this Dangerous Place, the writer, arranger, producer, singer, guitarist and leader of the Duke Robillard Band presents a total tour de force of all the different dimensions of that deceptively simple music known as "the blues": the brass-stoked swing of "Had To Be Your Man"; the straight-from-the-gut Chicago harp-and-guitar moan of "No Time"; the heartbreak of "All Over But the Paying"; the wry joviality of "I May Be Ugly (But I Sure Know How to Cook)"; the ruminative "Can't Remember to Forget" (courtesy of the pen of former Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters harpmeister Jerry Portnoy); and the slinky and silky set-ending instrumental "Black Negligee."

The Duke's electric guitar solo in the sexy, sassy "Ain't Nothing Like You (Where I Come From)," typical of this entire album, is an absolute model of sheer style and sly wit. ~Chris Slawecki