Bman's Blues Report

Today I'm featuring another fine release that was not sent to me for review but that I feel deserves a good listen. I checked on Amazon and even they don't have a review. Well readers, here's a review of a real cool release that deserves your attention. This is an August 2012 release of Tell Me Why by Vance Kelly . Opening with Twenty Four Hours , a smooth shuffle track, Vance demonstrates in seconds that he is a first rate blues singer. Wall To Wall is a high stepping R&B song along the lines of James Brown (Living In America among others). How can you not like this. Kelly strikes hard with his guitar and with solid bass behind him and brass pushing, this is a super track. Foot Loose & Fancy Free is a solid blues track with gospel influence. This is a super track with Kelly playing smart guitar riffs balanced by organ, horns and harp. Possibly my favorite track on the release, it's certainly one not to be missed. Doing My Own Thing is a strong R&B /so...

Vance Kelly (born January 24, 1954) is an American soul blues singer and guitarist, who has performed regularly at various music venues in the Chicago area, chief among them being the 1815, Checkerboard Lounge, Rosa's Lounge, Kingston Mines, Buddy Guy's Legends, and B.L.U.E.S. As a music journalist noted of Kelly, "Like Primer, he combines an enquiring eye for a song with a moderately conservative taste in sound, producing music that lives by the principles of classic Chicago bar blues yet is not enslaved by the past" Kelly was born in the Near West Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. His father was a gospel musician, and his uncle, LeRoy McCauley, was a part-time blues musician. Kelly's own interest in and talent for performing music were on display at an early age; he was playing guitar by the age of seven, despite never having had a formal lesson. Then, at the age of 10, Kelly performed blues for the first time at a Chicago school. As ...

Vance Kelly (born January 24, 1954, Chicago) is a soul-blues singer and guitarist, who has performed regularly at various music venues in the Chicago area, chief among them the 1815, Checkerboard Lounge, Rosa's Lounge, Kingston Mines, Buddy Guy's Legends, and B.L.U.E.S. Kelly formed the Backstreet Blues Band soon after he ended his tenure with A.C. Reed, and signed a recording contract with Vienna, Austria-based Wolf Records International in 1992. Members of Kelly's newly formed band included John Primer, providing assistance on the guitar; David Honeyboy on the harmonica; Eddie Shaw on the saxophone; Erskine Johnson on the keyboard; and Johnny Reed playing bass. In 1994, Kelly and his band would enjoy one of the most important breakthroughs of Kelly's musical career: The debut album, Call Me, earned worldwide critical acclaim and introduced Vance Kelly to audiences beyond the Chicago area. The album went on to win the Best Album of 1994 (New Recording) as well as the p...