Bassist/Composer, Robin Duhe, has emerged to the forefront after performing for three decades with the R&B group Maze, featuring Frankie Beverly aka Frankie Beverly & Maze.
Duhe took an unexpected turn in 2004 with the release of his first solo CD DO IT DUHE. He later released his second CD LIFE in 2009. Now we can look forward to his newest release titled Journey.
Robin Duhe was born in Oakland, California and came from a large musical family. In the third grade, Duhe learned to play the trumpet. In high school, he switched to the French horn and performed in various school orchestras and bands. The best moment of Duhe’s high school band experience was performing at the New York World’s Fair. Eventually, he changed from wind to string instruments. This occurred when his mother gave him a four-string guitar. He strummed that guitar like a bass and that’s when he found his niche . . . the bass guitar!
After high school, Robin performed around the San Francisco Bay Area. He played with the Soul Messengers, a group who backed many artists including Etta James, Bobby Womack, and Ruddy Raymore. While in college, he was introduced to members of Frankie Beverly’s Band. Robin Duhe joined the band and performed with them all over the world for over thirty years. That band became known as Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly.
Over time, Duhe’s music has evolved. He focused exclusively on the R&B sound for the first thirty years of his musical career. In his DO IT DUHE CD, his music changed to Smooth Jazz with R&B undertones. In his LIFE CD, his music is seasoned with a variety of genres, ranging from sensual to silky, smooth jazz to spicy, and soulful R&B to funk with a jazzy hook to message music.
Ironically, during the writing of LIFE, Duhe suffered the devastating illness of cancer. He wrote the title tune, “Life (Gets in the Way),” after his recovery. The song echoes Duhe’s personal experiences in dealing with the disease. And the opening line of the title tune is straightforward and honest. It says,
“Sorry, I can’t make it today; suddenly my world has changed.”
As a whole, the LIFE CD is stirring music that is filled with the emotions and the life experiences of a true artist.