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Road Song on CD

Rob Ickes' fifth solo release is a boundary-breaking album with wondrous romps and intimate dobro-piano dialogues reaching into the emotional core of 10 great jazz standards. Pianist Michael Alvey's intricate bass lines and percussive right-hand chordal punctuations have the energy of a full ensemble; Ickes lays down melodies with precision before the duo launches into breathtaking improvisational rides. Robinella's perfectly empathetic vocals contribute a playful give-and-take with dobro and piano, partly inspired by the great Ella Fitzgerald-Louis Armstrong collaborations. The 10-time winner of the Dobro Player of the Year award (IBMA), Ickes isn't content with assumed boundaries of genre. Throughout his career, as a solo artist, sought-after sideman or founding member of the acclaimed ensembles Blue Highway and Three Ring Circle, his intuitive ability to tap into a song's emotional essence and offer something fresh has earned accolades and respect well beyond the Dobro's domain in country and bluegrass music.