Tinsley Ellis Concert and Album

Finally made it down to the BB King Blues Club on I-Drive for this show Sunday night. I had only poked my head in once to check out the room after seeing a movie at the Pointe. It's an unusual setup as there is very little room directly in front of the stage. There is a small upstairs section that looks down from the front, and I wish I had investigated, but maybe another day...and there will be another day. Our foursome sat at a reserved table off to one side. Plenty of room, reasonable sight lines, and happy that the volume wasn't explosive! It's too bad that few locals know about the BB King Club. My regret is that there are very few national acts ever booked to play. After experiencing a night there, I guess I understand. We paid a paltry $5 cover (best five bucks one could have possibly spent in Orlando that night) and were joined by maybe 150 others. That's not a big payout for a blues veteran such as Mr. Ellis. I hope he got a % of the bar! I will say that the food we ordered was quite tasty, on par with, or even better than the kitchen at HOB. I hope BB Kings does well with their house bands, one of which we saw briefly at the downtown concert a few months ago opening for Joe Cocker. The tourists should eat this up!

I came away with the new CD that streets today, actually. Of course, you pay a little more for it at the show, but you get it a couple of days before everyone else and you get a chance to talk with Mr. Ellis while he signs it for you. I laughed at one of his concert comments about doing some of the new material that would be available, theoretically, in music stores everywhere today. I mentioned to him why I found it hysterical in our brief conversation in light of my retail background, and next thing you know we are talking about Cat's, Peaches, and NARM events in town over the years.

So let me quickly give an overview of both the show and the record. I've spun it once and realize he performed about half the tracks for us that night. Over the years I've helped sell many of his records but never ended up with one in my vault. I now realize that one should witness a live show to better appreciate the recorded versions. He's not a flashy, in-your-face performer, but he coaxes so many sounds from the guitars. Once you witness the effortless ability, the recorded music is much more meaningful. He's not the vocal presence of other notable blues artists, but that's not to say he's incapable. One of the later tracks on the record had me harking back to a pre-Steve Perry Journey sound that featured a young Greg Rolie on vocals. In concert the bass was a bit muddy, but on record it is crisper. Drums were sturdy and strong, and yet subtle in other ways. The drummer was the most showy on stage, but that's a relative term as it was the music that was the highlight of the evening.