It might be the Jazz and Blues festival, but this was an evening of soul and R&B music from a young Glasgow band that are on their way up. Songs made famous by Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Etta James and others were mixed in with their own compositions in sets that were well balanced and full of energy.
Drums, bass, keyboards and guitar, a couple of backing singers, and Kelly fronting it all on vocals. They're a solid, competent outfit, and when each got a chance to solo they showed a decent range of talent. Good bass solo. The backing singers
got their shot in the spotlight, and both have voices that would make them strong lead vocalists in their own right. But there was one good reason why they were in a subsidiary role tonight....
Melisa Kelly has a truly great voice. Tone, range, power, feel, phrasing, imagination, the ability to hold a long note and the confidence to use her voice as an instrument - they're all there. She can belt out the rocky numbers and raise the spirits, reach into your heart with the soulfulness of her renditions on slower numbers. This is a voice that deserves to heard (and the YouTube videos of her I've looked at come nowhere close to demonstrating what a fabulous live artist she is).
Charmingly gauche, self deprecating, yet sweetly engaging, her introductions to songs are brief, but sometimes funny. Her own songs have reasonably interesting melodies and lyrics ("It's Not Me, It's You" stood out as one of the best), but she's at her strongest interpreting classic soul numbers. It's all about the voice.
Kelly said she spends a lot of her time wishing she could be Chaka or Aretha. She shouldn't. She's Melisa Kelly.
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