Passport To The Blues

After 40-plus years in the business, Duke Robillard still plays some of the meanest, meatiest blues guitar around. He’s no slouch as a songwriter either, as proven by the tunes found on *Passport to the Blues*. There’s a swaggering tone to these tracks, heard in the strutting bravado of the Howlin’ Wolf-inspired “Rhode Island Red Rooster” and the playful come-on patter in the jazzy “When You’re Old You’re Cold.” Robillard’s growling vocals put real bite into muscular numbers like “Workin’ Hard for My Uncle” and the Tom Waits-penned “Make It Rain” and lend a desperate edge to soulful testimonies like “The High Cost of Lovin’.” The slinky, Latinized “Hong Kong Suit” lets him unleash a defiant personal manifesto. As always, Robillard’s guitar work is impeccable, full of fat, luscious riffs and thin, silvery lines — his dagger-sharp touch on “Grey Sky Blues” is a standout. His backup combo smolders and ignites as the mood requires, with Doug James (an old cohort from Duke’s Roomful of Blues days) laying down some especially choice sax and harp.