Duke Robillard & Herb Ellis - More Conversations In Swing Guitar (2003)

Many improvisers would agree that having the feeling of the blues is a crucial part of jazz expression; however, the jazz and blues worlds don't interact nearly as often as they should. There are jazz musicians who will play Miles Davis' "All Blues" or Charlie Parker's "Parker's Mood" on a regular basis but wouldn't know John Lee Hooker from Little Milton; there are blues artists who are much more likely to work with a rock musician than a jazz musician. So it is a rare treat to hear a blues-oriented guitarist and a jazz-oriented guitarist co-leading a session, which is exactly what happens on More Conversations in Swing Guitar. This 2003 release is a sequel to bluesman Duke Robillard and jazzman Herb Ellis' 1999 encounter Conversations in Swing Guitar, and the CD proves that good things can happen when jazz and blues players interact. More Conversations in Swing Guitar is an album of very blues-minded instrumental jazz – it's hardly a carbon copy of Robillard's work with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, but the bluesman has no problem appearing in a jazz-oriented setting. Despite their different backgrounds and age differences – Robillard was born in 1948, Ellis in 1921 – the two guitarists have no problem finding common ground, and they enjoy a strong rapport on three Robillard originals ("Blues for Terry," "End of Session Jump," and "Train to Texas") as well as Benny Moten's "Moten Swing" and Sir Charles Thompson's "Robbin's Nest." Few surprises occur, but the guitarists always sound inspired and enthusiastic on this solid, if somewhat predictable, outing.

Review by Alex Henderson, Allmusic.com

On the surface, the pairing of these two guitarists from different generations might seem an odd match. Duke Robillard is the founder of Roomful of Blues, has played with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Big Joe Turner, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bob Dylan. Herb Ellis, the elder half of this duo, has played with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Oscar Peterson, from Billie Holiday to Ella Fitzgerald. But from the very opening notes of More Conversations in Swing Guitar (the follow-up to '99s Conversation in Swing Guitar ), it's obvious that the two string men are musically very simpatico.

Though Robillard is more versed in the blues, he can swing, with the best of them, as the opener, "Moten Swing," attests. The guitarists are featured on separate stereo channels, which gives the listener (especially on headphones) the opportunity to hear the contrast in "conversational" styles—Robillard's fuller and more blues tinges; Ellis's tangy and looser, swinging just a bit freer than his younger counterpart.

The set is full of relaxed grooves, swinging easy, with superb accompaniment of Terry Homes on rhythm guitar, Marty Ballou on bass and Marty Richards on drums. A classy set of sounds that has that effortless feel only a group of consumate musicians can create. An essential disc for fans of swing guitar.

Review by Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz