Duke Robillard (born Michael John Robillard in Woonsocket, RI, on 4 October… Read Full Bio ↴Duke Robillard (born Michael John Robillard in Woonsocket, RI, on 4 October 1948) is an American guitarist and singer. He founded the band Roomful of Blues and was a member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. He also recorded in the duo Duke Robillard & Herb Ellis. Robillard is known as a rock and blues guitarist, he also plays jazz and swing.

Blues guitarist. Swing and jump blues in the T-Bone Walker style. Bandleader. Songwriter. Singer. Producer. Session musician. And a one-man cheering section for the blues, in all its forms and permutations. And every one of those names has shared recording studio space or stage time with a man who is a legend in the blues community.

The Blues Music Awards (formerly W.C.Handy Awards) have named Duke Robillard "Best Blues Guitarist" four years out of five (2000,2001,2003,2004) making him the second most honored guitarist for that award! He was also nominated in that category in 2005, 2007 and again this year of 2008.

In 2007 Duke received a Grammy nomination for his "Guitar Groove-a-rama" CD and was also honored with the prestigious Rhode Island Pell Award for "excellence in the arts" along with actress Olympia Dukakis, actor Bob Colonna, and R.I. Choreographer/Festival Ballet director Mihailo "Misha" Djuric.The Pell award is named for Senator Claiborne Pell who help establish the the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities in 1965.

Other awards over the last decade include three Canadian Maple Blues Awards in 2001, 2002, and 2003 for "Best International Blues Artist," The Blues Foundation's "Producer of the Year" award in 2004, The French Blues Association "Album of the Year" award in 2002 (Living with the Blues) and "Guitarist of the Year" awards in 1999 and 2002.

BB King himself has called Duke "One of the great players," The Houston Post called him "one of God's guitarists. And the New York Times says "Robillard is a soloist of stunning force and originality.

None of that goes to Robillard’s head. He’s still on the road, still playing as many as 250 dates a year. And still proving, night after night, that his true talent is bringing people out to hear the music, appreciate the show, and dance to the blues.

Duke had his first band in high school — he was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island — and he was fascinated from the beginning by the ways in which jazz, swing, and the blues were linked. In 1967, he formed Roomful of Blues, and the band was tight enough and tough enough to accompany two of its heroes, Big Joe Turner and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on record and in live appearances.

Always ahead of his time, Duke’s first band pre-dated the renewed interest in jump blues by more than a decade — and almost 20 years later, in 1986, when he recorded with jazz sax master Scott Hamilton, he recorded a collection of classic big band tunes from the ’30s and ’40s, thus skillfully pre-dating the neo-Swing craze of the mid ’90s.

Roomful of Blues — which still continues, forty years later — gave Duke his first exposure to a wide public, and when he left after a dozen years, he played briefly with rockabilly king Robert Gordon, then cut two albums with the Legendary Blues Band (a sterling collection of former members of Muddy Waters’ band). He led his own band until 1990, and then replaced Jimmy Vaughan in the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

In 1993, as he was about to sign a world-wide recording deal with Virgin/Pointblank, he met Holger Petersen, head of the Canadian independent label Stony Plain, at a folk festival in Winnipeg. In conversation, he mentioned he wanted to record a complete album of blues, without the r & b and jazz influences of his work to date.

Petersen was interested; Virgin gave the go-ahead, and the resulting album, Duke’s Blues, earned rave reviews. It was so successful, in fact, that Virgin soon licensed the record from Stony Plain and released it around the world (except in Canada, where it continues in the Canadian company’s catalogue.

In the years since his relationship with the Canadian label has been astonishingly fruitful. As a soloist , he has released eleven CDs, plus one with label mate Ronnie Earl and one with The New Guitar Summit. Duke's next release will be in May/June of 2008

Just as remarkable have been the projects he has produced (and played on) for Stony Plain, including two albums with the late Jimmy Witherspoon, two with Kansas City piano king Jay McShann, comeback CDs for Billy Boy Arnold and Rosco Gordon, a swinging confection with the Canadian band The Rockin’ Highliners, and a superb album of guitar duets with the jazz legend Herb Ellis.

As if this growing catalogue was not enough, he has found time to share studio gigs with Bob Dylan (the Daniel Lanois-produced Time Out of Mind sessions), Ruth Brown, the late Johnny Adams, John Hammond, Pinetop Perkins, and Ronnie Earl, among many others. He now has his own 24-track studio in his home, and he has become deeply involved in graphic design and photography as well as record production.

Duke Robillard is a man in command of a full range of creative talents — unique in the blues, and rare in the music industry as a whole. He is, in fact, a complete artist at the height of his power.

The Song Is Ended
Duke Robillard Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

My thoughts go back to a heavenly dance
A moment of bliss we spent
Our hearts were filled with a song of romance
As into the night we went
And sang to our hearts' content

The song is ended
But the melody lingers on

You and the song are gone
But the melody lingers on

The night was splendid
And the melody seemed to say
"Summer will pass away
Take your happiness while you may"

There 'neath the light of the moon
We sang a love song that ended too soon

The moon descended
And I found with the break of dawn

You and the song had gone
But the melody lingers on

Overall Meaning

Duke Robillard's "The Song Is Ended" is a song that speaks about the bittersweet memories of a heavenly dance. The lyrics take us to a place where a love song was sung, hearts were filled with romance, and happiness was taken while it was there. However, as the night ended, so did the love song and the moment of bliss. We are left with only the lingering melody, without the person we shared the moment with.

The title of the song encompasses the melancholic tone that resounds throughout the piece. The melody has stopped, but it remains in the singer's heart, a reminder of the love that existed for a fleeting moment. The song reflects on the transience of happiness and how quickly it can disappear. The lyrics speak of the importance of enjoying life's precious moments while they last because time is fleeting. The song reminds us that even though a moment may be over, we can still hold onto the memories and the melody in our hearts.

In conclusion, "The Song Is Ended" is a beautifully written jazz standard that talks about the fleeting nature of love and the importance of cherishing the moments of happiness while they last. The lyrics speak of the memories that remain, long after we have said goodbye to the person who shared the moment with us. It is a poignant reminder that things will pass, but the beauty they held will linger on.

Line by Line Meaning

My thoughts go back to a heavenly dance
I reminisce about a magical moment when we danced.

A moment of bliss we spent
We shared a brief but joyous time together.

Our hearts were filled with a song of romance
Our hearts were overflowing with feelings of love.

As into the night we went
We spent the night together.

And sang to our hearts' content
We sang without restraint.

The song is ended
The song we were singing together has concluded.

But the melody lingers on
The tune of the song continues to play in my mind.

You and the song are gone
You have left, and the song has ended.

But the melody lingers on
The melody of the song still echoes in my mind.

The night was splendid
The night was magnificent and unforgettable.

And the melody seemed to say
The melody spoke to me.