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Originally a
poet and fiction
writer, Al
Basile was the
first to get a
master's degree
from Brown
University's
Creative Writing
program; he also
wrote musicals
as an
undergraduate.
Meeting Duke
Robillard in
1969 changed his
artistic
direction for
life. He began
his performing
career in 1973,
hired by Duke as
the first
trumpet player
for Rhode
Island's premier
jump band
Roomful of
Blues, and
played with such
blues and jazz
greats as Eddie
“Cleanhead”
Vinson, Red
Prysock, Helen
Humes, Joe
Turner, and
Johnny Shines.
Leaving in 1975
to devote
himself to
teaching,
singing, and
songwriting, he
was reunited
with Duke
Robillard,
Roomful's
founder, in the
late eighties.
His songs and
playing have
continued to
appear
throughout the
nineties on
Robillard's
records for
Rounder, Stony
Plain,
Pointblank, and
Shanachie. Songs
he has
co-written with
Duke have been
used on
television’s
Homicide:
Life on the
Street
and the feature
film Blood
and Wine.
Ruth Brown
recorded one of
Al’s songs on
her Handy Award
winning 1997
release
R&B=Ruth Brown,
and was the
first project
with a song by
Al to be
nominated for a
Grammy. The
second came last
year when Duke’s
Guitar
Groove-a-Rama
featuring Al’s
tune “This Dream
(Still Coming
True)” was
nominated for
Best Traditional
Blues Album of
2006.
Al began his own
solo recording
career in 1998
with the well
received
Down On
Providence
Plantation
and followed
that up with
2001's
Shaking the Soul
Tree.
Both discs were
roots projects
produced by
Robillard with
Duke and his
band backing
Basile up on his
own blues and
soul based roots
songs, the
second
emphasizing
Memphis soul
grooves and
adding former
Susan Tedeschi
keyboardist Tom
West to a horn
section with
Doug James and
Sax Gordon
Beadle alongside
Al's cornet.
2003’s Red
Breath
was Basile's
first jazz CD,
though he had
fronted jazz
combos for
twenty-five
years and had
been featured as
a swing-based
cornetist on
Duke's jazz
projects such as
After
Hours
Swing Session.
Several
under-known
songs by Rodgers
and Hart and
Vernon Duke were
unearthed and
given perhaps
their first jazz
treatment, and
Al showed the
influences of
Armstrong,
Sinatra, and
Strayhorn in his
playing,
singing, and
writing styles.
2005’s solo
effort
Blue Ink
was a collection
of Al’s blues
songs with Duke
and his band
again backing
him up and
featuring Jerry
Portnoy on harp,
fresh from
recording
Me &
Mr.
Johnson
with Eric
Clapton. This
was a dream
backup band for
this material,
which covered a
range of blues
styles from
fifties Muddy
Waters to Freddy
King to
swamp/funk blues
to New
Orleans/Longhair
type blues. Duke
produced and
played guitars
throughout.
Blue Ink
reached #18 on
the Living
Blues radio
chart.
2006’s
Groovin’ in the
Mood Room
stripped the
rhythm section
down to feature
Duke’s guitar
solos. and
emphasized
strong grooves
to complement
Al’s trademark
lyrics and
soulful singing,
and again
enjoyed lots of
airplay both
nationally and
internationally, reaching
#14 on the
Living Blues
chart.
Great
songwriting,
singing, and
playing –
Basile’s newest
album, The
Tinge,
puts it all
together, as Al
adds generous
helpings of his
cornet playing
to a batch of
songs which span
Kansas City
swing to
soul-jazz to the
classic blues
material he
first did with
Roomful of
Blues. With
Roomful’s Rich
Lataille in the
horn section
along with Doug
James and Duke,
half of the
original Roomful
lineup is at
work here, and
Al has written
blues songs like
“Not the Wrong
Woman” and “Too
Slow,” which
celebrate their
shared past (the
latter is sung
and played in
the manner of
Eddie
“Cleanhead”
Vinson, with
whom Roomful
first played in
1973). Bruce
Katz is
brilliant on
piano, organ,
and Wurlitzer,
and along with
mainstays Marty
Ballou on bass
and Mark
Teixeira on
drums, the
rhythm section
nails every
stylistic
challenge thrown
at them, from
older style jazz
like “While
We’re Dancing”
and “Give Me the
Rainbow” to
brooding plunger
muted blues to
bubbly workouts
reminiscent of
sixties soul.
With the
addition of his
rich open tone
and relaxed,
lyrical solo
work to his
highly crafted
songs, unique
storytelling,
and
strong, personal
vocals,
The Tinge
is Al Basile’s
statement
record. The
books and
literary
magazines which
publish his
poetry identify
him as a poet,
but that’s only
half the story.
His recordings
prove that he’s
a bard of the
blues.
In addition to
his own
recordings, Al
guested as a
featured cornet
player on Dave
Gross’
Take the Gamble
in 2006,
and he continues
to work with
Duke on his own
projects: he
played on
Blue Mood,
Duke's T-Bone
Walker tribute
record nominated
for a Blues
Music Award in
2004, A
Special Evening
with Duke
Robillard and
Friends
DVD released in
2005, played on
and wrote for
Guitar
Groove-a-Rama,
and co-wrote the
title tune on
Duke’s 2007
release,
World Full of
Blues.
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