Duke Robillard presents Sunny and her Joy Boys
Award winning guitarist Duke Robillard has traveled the world over for the last 40 years entertaining audiences with his special blend of blues and classic jazz. He's recorded with, played with, or produced many of the most important artists of the last several decades, including Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Ruth Brown, Johnny Adams, Jay McShann, Jimmy Witherspoon, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, among many more. With 20 albums under his own name and many more as guitarist with countless artists, Duke has achieved what many only dream of, having worked with many of his legendary musical heros.
But there is one project that has been in the back of his mind since he heard Ivie Anderson, Helen Humes and Billie Holiday nearly 40 years ago - to celebrate the rich era of women song stylists from the 30’ to the 50’s - women who brought poise and class to the great American songs of the time, and who interpreted the best lyrics of the American master songwriters with depth, sincerity, and a personal flair that’s all but forgotten today.
That project has never been realized until recently when he heard Sunny Crownover sing on a show at Harvard University that Duke was part of as a guest artist. When Sunny sang "At Last" he was immediately impressed with her ability to phrase like Etta James but sound uniquely like herself at the same time. Duke says "Her relaxed style and natural stage presence started the wheels turning. I felt I had finally found the vocalist I had been hoping to discover for so many years." As luck would have it, Sunny emailed Duke the next day offering her vocals to any project of his that needed a female vocalist. Duke wasted no time finding material and enlisting a crew of great musicians to join forces, and Sunny and Her Joy Boys were born.
Duke presents -
Sunny Crownover was a military daughter who moved around during her childhood and spent most of her life from high school on in Texas, the last ten years of that time in Austin, where she honed her vocal chops with many of Austin’s best musicians. She began singing around the Jacksboro Highway blues circuit at the age of 14 performing in acoustic blues ensembles. Since relocating in the Boston area, Sunny has been the featured vocalist with 2120 South Michigan Avenue, a Boston based blues band led by Harvard professor Charlie Sawyer. Sunny says, "Music has always been my greatest passion in life. I grew up listening to all kinds of music and knew I wanted to be a singer from a very early age."
Billy Novick joined in on clarinet and alto sax to add to the band his brilliantly melodic classic sound. Billy is an acknowledged master of his instruments and of diverse American musical styles of the last century, and his list of musical credits is staggering. Billy has toured for thirty five years with popular performers as diverse as David Bromberg, Leon Redbone, Jonathan Edwards, and Martha and the Vandellas. He has been a member of New England’s acclaimed New Black Eagle Jazz Band for two decades, has five solo CDs and nine duo CDs with Guy Van Duser (with whom he has frequently appeared on the Prairie Home Companion radio show) along with hundreds of performances on CD as a session musician, and his writing and arranging skills have been used on many films and television projects.
Duke says of Billy "I've always admired Billy's lyrical style and obvious mastery of the early jazz idiom. He's one of my all time favorite musicians."
Jesse Williams has played and recorded with Duke for five years. He is currently recording and performing with Al Kooper and Jay Geils. As a member of Duke Robillard's band Jesse has recorded Duke's GRAMMY award nominated record Guitar Grooverama and has performed with Maria Muldaur, Johnnie Johnson, Ruth Brown, Jay McShann, Jimmy McGriff, and John Hammond. Jesse has freelanced with Percy Sledge, Jay Geils, Susan Tedeschi, Charles Neville, Jimi Vivino, Fred Lipsius, Henry Butler, Big Jack Johnson, Toni Lynn Washington, Jazz Composer's Alliance, and Aardvark Jazz Orchestra. His playing has been featured on many commercial and film recordings including: Sesame Street, Nissan, Honeydrippers (upcoming John Sayles movie), Nat'l Film Archives, Mobil, American Movie Classics theme music, PBS "Gold Rush".
Jesse Currently endorses Tomastic Strings and Aguilar Amplification.
He has been teaching for 16 years and currently teaches at Berklee College of music.
Guitarist Paul Kolesnikow and Duke have been playing together in duo, trio and quartet situations for many years now and he helps with the group’s arrangements. He has worked with such artists as Texas Music Hall of Famer Maryann Price, and in the eighties Paul had the privilege of accompanying the great Joe Pass for guitar clinics in Hollywood - Pass called Paul “one of five great rhythm guitarists” he knew. His experience and excellent taste makes him a perfect complement to Duke in the musical mix.
Duke is justifiably proud of and excited about this new musical venture, which for him is the realization of a lifelong dream. He says...
“Sunny and her Joy Boys are bound to make you feel happy with a blend a soft yet powerful rhythm reminiscent of the heyday of jazz of the 30's. Sunny's beautiful voice will entrance you and for a little while, the world is a beautiful place and real American music is alive and very well!”
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