Robben Ford: Biography

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• Discography
• Biography
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• Mike Stern
• John Abercrombie
• Jeff Beck
• Stevie Ray Vaughan
• James Blood Ulmer
• Lee Ritenour
• Allan Holdsworth

• Igor Stravinsky
• John Coltrane
• Wes Montgomery
• Ravi Shankar
• Michael Bloomfield

• Chris Cain
• Kevin Thorpe

• Yellowjackets
• The Ford Blues Band
• Charles Ford
• Sadao Watanabe
• Miles Davis/Charlie Parker
• Jimmy Witherspoon
• Bob Malach

• The Ford Blues Band
• Jing Chi
• Yellowjackets
• Robben Ford & the Blue Line

Born:

Dec 16, 1951 in Ukiah, CA

Genres:

Jazz Music, Fusion Jazz Music, Contemporary Jazz Music

Decades Active:

1960's|1970's|1980's|1990's|2000's

Artistic Quality

Medium

Cultural Impact

Medium

Popularity

Medium

Ratings Guide

Robben Ford has had a diverse career. He taught himself guitar when he was 13 and considered his first influence to be Mike Bloomfield. At 18, he moved to San Francisco to form the Charles Ford Band (named after his father, who was also a guitarist) and was soon hired to play with Charles Musselwhite for nine months. In 1971, the Charles Ford Blues Band was re-formed and recorded for Arhoolie in early 1972. Ford played with Jimmy Witherspoon (1972-1973), the L.A. Express with Tom Scott (1974), George Harrison, and Joni Mitchell. In 1977, he was a founding member of the Yellowjackets, which he stayed with until 1983, simultaneously having a solo career and working as a session guitarist. In 1986, Ford toured with Miles Davis and he had two separate periods (1985 and 1987) with Sadao Watanabe, but he seemed to really find himself in 1992 when he returned to his roots: the blues. Ford formed a new group, the Blue Line, and has since recorded a couple of blues-rock dates for Stretch that are among the finest of his career. In 1999, he released Sunrise on Rhino and Supernatural on Blue Thumb.

- Scott Yanow, All Music Guide