Duke Robillard & His All Star Band

Duke Robillard, born in Rhode Island in 1948, is regarded as one of the most accomplished contemporary blues guitarists and has also made a name for himself as a singer, songwriter, bandleader, studio musician and producer.

His guitar style, which is influenced by T-Bone Walker among others, is not only praised in professional circles. Even B.B. King called him "one of the great players". Robillard's musical range is also impressive, extending from swing, standards and ballads to rock, Chicago blues and rockabilly.

Duke Robillard's successful career began early on when he founded the legendary jump blues band "Roomful of Blues" with pianist Al Copley in 1967. He then played with Robert Gordon before joining the "Legendary Blues Band", which consisted mainly of Muddy Waters' sidemen. In 1981, the Duke Robillard Band was founded, which became "Duke Robillard & The Pleasure Kings" in 1984 and released several highly acclaimed albums. At the same time, Duke showed that he was also an exceptional virtuoso talent in jazz with the release of the album "Swing". In the meantime, he replaced Jimmie Vaughan in the "Fabulous Thunderbirds" before concentrating on his solo career. This was followed by the eagerly awaited straight blues album "Duke's Blues" (1993), which was followed by numerous releases and video tutorials. He was part of the "New Guitar Summit" with J. Geils and Gerry Beaudoin, worked with Bob Dylan and toured with Tom Waits, among others.

Duke Robillard has also produced many successful albums, including for Billy Boy Arnold, Joe Louis, Jimmy Witherspoon, Billy Price and Al Basile. In addition to several Grammy nominations, he has received numerous international awards for his music. Besides all these successes, he still has enough time to pursue his passion as an artist of abstract paintings, as a photographer and as a gardener.

Duke comes to Freiburg with a first-class line-up: Chris Corte on vocals and guitar, Doug James on baritone sax (original Roomful of Blues member!), Marty Ballou on bass and Chris Anzalone on drums - the ideal prerequisites for an unforgettable evening of top-class blues!