The Duke Robillard Band: They Called It Rhythm & Blues

Exactly where does one begin enumerating the many virtues of one of 2022’s most satisfying new discs? Is it in the select choice of enduring R&B evergreens from the likes of Roy Milton, Howlin’ Wolf, Joe Liggins, “Lil Son” Jackson, and others? Is it in the tasty originals offered by Duke (including a powerhouse grinder, “Outta Here,” equally notable for Duke’s gritty vocal as it is for his stinging guitar, the horn section’s robust interjections, and Bruce Bears’s rippling, bluesy organ solo) and Kim Wilson (two gems from his T-Birds days, especially the red-hot plea “Tell Me Why,” brought to a roiling boil by Wilson’s aggrieved vocal and equally piercing harp support)? Could it be the scene-stealing distaff guest vocalists Sue Foley and Michelle Wilson, the former infusing Mickey & Sylvia’s “No Good Lover” with some heated Texas blues swagger, the latter most memorably on a deep blues reading of the old chestnut “Trouble in Mind,” in which the depth of her measured, plaintive reading might well bring you to your knees? Is it the sheer joy Sugar Ray Norcia exudes vocally and furiously on harp on a Chicago-styled, horn-enriched workout on Jimmy Nolan’s “She’s My Baby”? Well, exactly where?