T-Bear & The Dukes Of Rhythm

”They don’t make them like that anymore” When you’ve been around on this earth for a while, that thought does come to you once in a while. It could hit you when you see a nice old car, a music instrument, a real ”old school” personality being interviewed on the TV…. and if you’re into the blues, this thought definitely comes more often as the years keep passing by. Our heroes pass away, and many of the young musicians who try to pick up this heritage will sound like scholars for a long time before they might come out as a full-fledged blues musician. But here’s a guy that startles you as soon as you hear the sound of his guitar, his voice and the way he deals with the tradition. Raw and direct, well not ”too raw” but just sounding like himself. A straight-forward approach, with that special ”bite” that we associate with some of the great bluesmen. Where does he find it? Maybe in the deep forests of Värmland, a sparsely populated region in Sweden, near the Norwegian border. But mostly in his deep long-term love story with the blues, with heroes like Albert Collins, Albert and Freddie King, Luther Allison and other great representatives of modern electric blues with a twist of funk. And one thing he has in common with these musicians is that he will never play a set with only shuffles, but keeps varying his tempos and beats. Not only is he a natural talent on the guitar, but his expressive and direct voice and his creative songwriting contribute to his sound, raw and mature at the same time. The band T-Bear and the Dukes of Rhythm was started by Torbjörn Solberg in his hometown Arvika, Sweden, in 2004, and they have released two CD’s with their previous lineup, including a horn section: ”Let The Sweet Talk Flow” and Broadway Twist. The new version of the band is a quartet, featuring Hammond wizard Paul ”Palle” Wagnberg, a professional musician since 1985. They are soon heading for the studio, with a planned CD release Spring 2013.

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