Robben Ford is one of the world's premiere electric guitarists, particularly known for his blues playing as well as his ability to be comfortable in a variety of musical contexts. A four-time Grammy nominee, he has played with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Witherspoon, Miles Davis, George Harrison, Phil Lesh, Bonnie Raitt and many, many others. His jazz influenced guitar licks are unique and exceptional. Matt Schofield is a young guitarist whose star is most definitely on the ascendant. In recent years he has garnered some amazing press from all over the world and has been hailed by fans and critics alike as British Blues' great new guitar hope. The trio are highly unusual in not having a bass player: instead, the bottom end is covered not only by Matt's sophisticated chordal approach, but Jonny Henderson's classic collection of Rhodes, Hammond and Clavinet keyboards.

Four times Grammy Nominee Robben Ford has distinguished himself in a variety of genres, from R&R to jazz-fusion. The guitarist, singer's first love has always been the blues, an idiom he has explored at several points in his richly varied career. Ford's recent album, Blue Moon, his first recording for the Concord label, takes the eclectic musician back to his musical roots.

From the very first track - a spirited take on Little Walter's "Up The Line", it's clear that Ford is a rarity among musicians: a technical virtuoso who can play with true blues authenticity. Robben's own compositions for Blue Moon take in a broad emotional range, from the jazzy film noir mood of "Good to Love" to the smooth Muscle Shoals groove of "Don't Deny Your Love" to the all out grit of "Indianola", Robben's instrumental tribute to B.B. King.

"There's a tremendous opportunity, if you like blues music, to keep it fresh and alive," says Ford. "Probably the lion's share of my life's work in music has been doing exactly that." Ford's earliest musical steps were in the blues, playing with his brothers in the Charles Ford Band and backing harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite.

Robben then joined the legendary Jimmy Witherspoon, but his career took an unexpected turn in 1974, when he was discovered by saxophonist Tom Scott. He began to perform and record with Scott's jazz fusion band the L.A. Express and joined them in backing songwriter Joni Mitchell for 2 years, playing on her Court & Spark tour and double album Miles Of Isles (1974) and contributing his guitar work to The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975).

"It was like being shot from a cannon," Ford recalls. "I was basically thrust into fusion music. I learned more during that two year period with Joni Mitchell and the L.A. Express than I did at any other time about the broader vision of music."

On the strength of his live work with Joni Mitchell, Ford was drafted to join George Harrison on what would be the ex-Beatle's only solo tour ever. In the program book for the Dark Horse tour, it is noted "Only once in a blue moon is there an artist so natural to the blues and to jazz as Robben Ford."

The year 1979 saw the release of his solo debut album, a fusion-flavored excursion called The Inside Story. Out of that recording came the group the legendary Yellowjackets, who would go on to record two albums for Warner Records. The late 70's and early '80s were a fertile period, with session work with everyone from Little Feat to Michael McDonald, David Sanborn and a stint with jazz giant Miles Davis. "This was the period of time when people first started hearing about me," says Robben. "So consequently I was labeled 'fusion guitar player Robben Ford,' or 'L.A. session man.' and it just wasn't true, not in my heart, anyway, and it wasn't until my second album, Talk to Your Daughter, in 1988, that I got to make my first blues offering. That album received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Recording."

The promotional tour for Talk to Your Daughter ultimately led to the formation of a full time blues-based band, Robben Ford & The Blue Line, with Roscoe Beck on bass and Tom Brechtlein on drums. The trio recorded a string of landmark '90s albums, (including a self-titled debut in '92, Mystic Mile in '93 and 1995's Handful of Blues) two of which were also nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Recording. But by the second half of the decade, Robben was once more ready for a change. After an amicable split with the Blue Line, he recorded Tiger Walk in 1997, backed by Keith Richards' rhythm section.

"Tiger Walk was an instrumental rock and r&b record, which was nothing that my audience expected at the time," says Robben. "and the next record I did, Supernatural (1999), was an even further departure."

The album Supernatural was received very well at Triple A radio and "In the Beginning" from Tiger Walk was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Instrumental Rock category. But like many a guitar legend, Robben discovered that the blues is a mistress that doesn't like to be ignored for very long.

Which brought him into the studio to record Blue Moon, an album that exudes breezy confidence and a deep connection with the blues. Several tracks reunite Robben with Blue Line alumni Roscoe Beck and Tom Brechtlein. Elsewhere, he's ably supported by Vinny Colaiuta on drums and Jimmy Earl on bass.

Other key contributors include keyboardists Russell Ferrante (a long time Ford cohort) and Neil Larson (Larson/Feiten Band). Vocalist Julie Christiansen (Leonard Cohen) trades soulful vocal lines with Robben on the languid, late-night ballad "Make Me Your Only One." But then, every track on the album imbues the blues with the kind of jazzy sophistication we've come to expect from Robben Ford.

A record this distinctive only comes along once in a Blue Moon.

Get a flavour .... http://www.robbenford.com/

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