Robben Ford releases his beautiful new album Two Shades of Blue today via Provogue/Artone. To celebrate, he also drops the luminous instrumental title-track, which you can listen to HERE.
Robben Ford is a man in motion. Scan the five-time Grammy nominee’s back catalogue – a half-century hot-streak that darts between jazz, rock, fusion and blues – and you’ll find a musician in a constant state of metamorphosis. Spin new album Two Shades Of Blue – a transatlantic modern classic that shapeshifted as the sessions unfolded – and you’ll feel the risks taken and rules broken. “I have that curse,” smiles the guitarist. “I don’t have two records that sound the same…”
With a new album, Robben feels at the top of his game right now. But, Two Shades Of Blue is not the album Ford was planning to make – but it’s all the better for it. Tracked in the US and UK with two different crack-squad bands, this album paints with his inimitable palette, from the low-slung funk-blues of lead single Make My Own Weather to skyscraping instrumentals such as Two Shades of Blue that even test the limits of a player ranked amongst the 100 Greatest Guitarists Of The 20th Century by Musician Magazine.
The new single features Ford alongside drummer Ianto Thomas (Mark Knopfler) and keys man Jonny Henderson (Otis Grand).
“Two Shades of Blue is one of the songs written in tribute to Jeff Beck for the new album of the same name. Jeff played music of many different moods, and I felt this gospel feeling coming through, and just ran with it. The record is also dedicated to Alexander Dumble, and the four double stop notes that open the song literally speak the title, referring to the loss of these two brilliant men – Two Shades of Blue. That was an auspicious coincidence that surprised even me. The recording session with Ianto Thomas and Jonny Henderson went very smoothly, and Jonny plays a great solo at the end on the B3 Organ”.
The title-track is the final single to be taken from the album, following the brass-bolstered soul ballad, ‘Perfect Illusion’, which delivers a performance that feels both radiant and timeless.
Loading into Eastcote Studios with engineer George Murphy, the chemistry is palpable, with Ford’s guitar and vocals leading a first-call band that takes in drummer Ianto Thomas (Mark Knopfler), keys man Jonny Henderson (Otis Grand), bassist Robin Mullarkey (Paloma Faith) and a brass section comprising of Paul Booth (saxophone), Ryan Quigley (trumpet) and Trevor Mires (trombone). “Great cats,” smiles Ford. “London has been incredible for finding musicians. This place is loaded, even better for me than Nashville or LA.”
The album also features the incredible talents of bassist, Darryl Jones (The Rolling Stones), Keyboardist Larry Goldings and Gary Husband on drums for the instrumental songs, The Fire Flute, The Light Fandango and Feeling’s Mutual.
From a young man in Los Angeles with jazz giant Jimmy Witherspoon, to the adventurism of saxophonist Tom Scott’s esteemed ’70s fusion outfit, The L.A. Express, Ford has always trod his own path.
This led him to be recruited by Joni Mitchell for two classic albums (“the most formative two years of my musical life”), before he stepped out with rock royalty on George Harrison’s Dark Horse tour. That collaborative streak would continue throughout his career, from Bonnie Raitt to Bob Dylan. “I’m out there on the bandstand and this rocket ship takes off,” he recalls of his mid-’80s debut with jazz talisman Miles Davis. “For my solo, I put my head down and played every note I knew, as fast as I could. I look up, and Miles just goes: ‘Yeah’. And I’m like, ‘OK, he likes it’.”
Ford’s career has kept sparking because he never made the safe moves, and Two Shades of Blue is another masterful addition to his already glorious catalogue.
Tour dates
Tickets available HERE
26 Jun – Torrita Blues Festival, Sienna – ITALY
17 Jul – Guitare en Scène Festival, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois – FRANCE
19 Jul – Jazz à Sète, Sète – FRANCE
25 Jul – JazzKukko, Laitila – FINLAND
18 Aug – Aglientu Summer Blues Festival, Agientu – ITALY
14 Oct – Vejle Muskteater, Vejle – DENMARK
18 Oct – Cacaofabriek, Helmond – NETHERLANDS
