Robert Randolph & The Family Band
NewMusicforOldFolks says …
It takes about 30 seconds of listening to Robert Randolph & The Family band to figure out that the Randolph family learned their musical chops in church. There's an underlying Gospel tinge to everything they do. With frontman Robert on the petal steel guitar the Family Band takes you to church — figuratively if not literally — with every performance. Randolph burst onto the scene in 2002 with the Live at the Wetlands album and has since played with just about everybody in the business from Los Lobos to Sawyer Brown to Robbie Robertson. The current album includes appearances by Trombone Shorty and Carlos Santana. I'd start my collection at the beginning, but there's not a bad choice in the lot.
Artist's Info
Website: robertrandolph.net
See him live: Tour dates
Record company: Blue Note Records
See also: The Word
Genre: R&B, Funk, Jam
If you like this, look into: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Dumpstaphunk, Big Sam's Funky Nation
Bio (from the artist's website)
Many musicians claim that they “grew up in the church,” but for Robert Randolph that is literally the case. The renowned pedal steel guitarist, vocalist and songwriter led such a cloistered childhood and adolescence that he heard no secular music while growing up. If it wasn’t being played inside of the House of God Church in Orange, New Jersey—quite often by Robert and members of his own family, who upheld a long but little known gospel music tradition called sacred steel—Randolph simply didn’t know it existed. Which makes it all the more remarkable that the leader of Robert Randolph and the Family Band—whose label debut for Sony Masterworks, Got Soul—is today an inspiration to the likes of Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Derek Trucks, all of whom have played with him and studied his technique. It wasn’t until he was out of his teens that Randolph broke away from the confines of his social and musical conditioning and discovered rock, funk, soul, jazz and the jam band scene, soon forging his own sound by fusing elements of those genres. (more)
Spotify sampler
Recordings
Most Recent
LICKITY SPLIT (2013): Robert Randolph, the virtuoso pedal steel guitarist whose distinctive mix of rock, funk and rhythm & blues has built a fervent, international audience releases his highly anticipated new studio album, Lickety Split. His first studio album since 2010's We Walk This Road, Lickety Split is produced by Randolph and showcases his Family Band, the powerhouse ensemble that has backed him throughout his career. The Family Band is comprised of actual family members Marcus Randolph, Danyel Morgan, Lenesha Randolph together with guitarist Brett Haas. This album features special guest appearances from Trombone Shorty and Carlos Santana and signifies a return to the joyful, high energy music that has become Randolph's trademark.
OTHERS
Live at the Wetlands (2002)
Unclassified (2003)
Colorblind (2006)
We Walk This Road (2010)
Live In Concert (2011)
