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| Robben Ford's Made to Last Sweetwater Studios |
When your in the right mood, there is nothing like listening to some Blues.
The Blues has been recorded for nearly one hundred years and although it often relies
on simple three chord progressions it can still powerfully stir the soul and get the blood
temperature rising.
Guitarist Robben
Ford has been plying his trade for over fifty years. Although the saxophone was
his first instrument, he picked up the guitar at the age of fourteen and never
looked back. Ford is one of those
rare guitarist that can’t be pigeon-holed by genre. He seems equally comfortable in the
worlds of rock, jazz and blues. The five-time Grammy nominated musician is now sixty-six year old and has collaborated
and played with a who’s who of musicians in his career including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie.
Charlie Haden, Larry Carlton, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, George Harrison and
Kiss to name just a few.
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| Robben Ford (photo credit unknown) |
He joined the electric jazz world of Miles Davis in
1986 at the Montreux Jazz Festival and was enlisted into saxophonist Tom Scott’s fusion band the LA
Express in the nineteen seventies. His collaboration with the progressive crossover group The
Yellowjackets started in the late seventies and he recorded two albums with
them in 1981 and 1983. Despite his ability to traverse the different genres with
great facility it is the Blues that seem to be closest to his heart. His
playing is said to be strongly influenced by the guitarist Mike Bloomfield, but Ford has matured developing his own signature style. He
started his career playing for Bluesman Charlie Musselwhite back in 1969 at the age of eighteen and
recorded a live album with Blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon sometime later.
Fast forward to 2018 and on April 6th the
guitarist/vocalist will release his latest Blues recording Made to Last. Ford is joined by the bassist Brad Allen, the drummer
Wes Little, the rhythm guitarist Casey Wasner and Flecktones and Dave Mathews Band alumni, the versatile multi-reed artist Jeff Coffin.
From the opening power chords on Lightnin’ Hopkins “Good
Times” Ford brings his tasty guitar and plaintive voice to vacuum you up into his
orbit. The funky, synthesized saxophone of Coffin takes a few nasty licks of
his own sounding like a chorus of horns, before Ford wails with his pungent,
flowing guitar lines. The behind the beat drums of Little and the pulsing bass of Allen drive the song
forward.
On the Willie Dixon classic “Crazy for My Baby” Ford’s voice
leads the way as the rhythm section plays a rambling shuffle. Coffin’s raspy
saxophone solo leads off before Ford plays a synthesized guitar solo, using the
POG by Electro-Harmonix to create a double octave effect that has a unsettling feel
to it, creating three notes at once.
Ford’s “Somebody’s Fool” is propelled by Wasner’s driving rhythm guitar,
as Ford and Coffin take turns soloing. Ford’s guitar takes on a distinctively Southern
rock tone as he pierces the changes with distinctive free flowing single note
lines that perfectly punctuate the song. Coffin’s overdubbed saxophone almost sounds
like a recreation of the Memphis Horns section.
On Lightnin’ Hopkins “Automobile Blues” we get the real Blues
side of Ford. Again Coffin creates a backing horn section accompaniment that sounds as
if three guys are playing it. Ford for his part is comfortably in his element
on this slow cooker. His intonation is precise and liquid, and the rhythm
section is firmly in the pocket. Coffin and Ford trade licks in a call and
response that quivers with excitement. This one simmers.
The final song of this short but sweet cd is titled another
Ford composition titled “the Champion” and here Ford switches to the trio of Dave Martin
on bass and Nick D’Virgilio on drums. This is power trio stuff that harkens back to early Cream and yet it reminds a bit of the a late great Roy Buchanan in its effectively raw simplicity. It's all Ford and his Gibson Les Paul guitar,
with no vocals, just a straight ahead free-wheeling guitar jaunt. Freed of the responsibility of singing, Ford’s
lines seem even more unleashed and spontaneous than normal. Quite tasty.
For those who love great Blues guitar, Robben Ford’s Made to Last is no frills delight.
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