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to play the blues. ‘Tell the Devil’ is a stirring gospel song with sacred steel player DaShawn

Hickman and ‘Heaven Help Us All’ is also gospel-infused, a song by Ron Miller which has been
recorded by Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. As usual Shemekia includes a song by her father
Johnny, in this case ‘Down on Bended Knee’ with blistering lead guitar from Kimbrough. There
are some great tracks here and everything sounds good but I just think we’ve heard it all before
on the previous three albums and I’d really like her to try something new and different.

Graham Harrison

Duke Robillard—Roll With Me—Stony Plain ASIN :
B0D6M6T6JB

Duke recorded nine of these tracks in 2005 but then he started
work on the “Guitar Grove-A-Rama” album and the tracks
were never released. He recently listened to them again,
re-did the vocals on some and added a further three tracks to
come up with this new album recorded in both Duke’s Mood
Room in Rhode Island and Lakewest Recording in West Green-
wich. The album has four Robillard originals and eight covers
and it's Eddie Boyd’s Chicago blues ‘Blue Coat Man’ that gets
us underway but this is a swinging jazzy version with riffing
brass (indeed most tracks here feature a revolving lineup of
brass players - like Duke’s time with Roomful of Blues) Duke’s own ‘Just Kiss Me’ is also heavy
on the brass. ‘Are You Going My Way’ is a rocking Fats Domino song with piano from Matt
McCabe and Big Joe Turner’s ‘I Know You Love Me’ also has that loping NOLA feel, while ‘Boogie
Uproar’ is a driving Gatemouth Brown instrumental and Duke also covers his ‘You Got Money’.

We go to Chicago for ‘Look What You’ve Done’ a Muddy Waters’ song with Chris Cote on vocals
and Sugar Ray Norcia on harp and stay there for a really authentic version of Willie Dixon’s ‘Built
for Comfort’ as done by Howlin’ Wolf.

Duke’s own ‘My Plea’ is a rock and roll ballad with a delicious trombone solo from Pam Murray
and ‘Boogie Woogie Country Girl’ is another Joe Turner number. We finish with two of Duke’s
songs; the slow blues ‘Give Me Back My Money’ and ‘Don’t You Want to Roll Will Me’.

I’m not the biggest Duke Robillard fan but this is an interesting record that was well worth
resurrecting and re-jigging. As well as his favoured jump blues, there are also Chicago blues and
rock and roll tracks here to add variety.

Graham Harrison
Guy Davis—The Legend of Sugerbelly—MC Records ASIN
: B0D6RT5S2R

As well as being a consummate blues and folk musician Guy
Davis is the son of black showbusiness royalty in Ruby Dee
and Ozzie Davis and so as well as just making music he has
also always tried to entertain, including also acting and writ-
ing plays. This album is dedicated to his uncle, story teller
William Conan Davis as well as harmonica virtuoso Phil Wig-

gins and it was recorded in LRS Recording Studio in Hurley,
New York and comprises 10 original songs and three covers.