ELLIS MANO BAND

track-list:
Whiskey
Turtle
Goodbye My Love
Bad News Blues
Ambedo Mind
Forsaken
Blue Paranoia
The Horrible Truth
Badwater
Keep It Simple
Long Road
A Lifetime
Only With You
Johnny Susie
Luck Of The Draw

Following their tour in support of the critically acclaimed ‘Luck of the Draw’ album, the ELLIS MANO BAND present their first live album.
‘Live: Access All Areas’ (SPV, release date: 15 March 2024) contains 15 songs recorded in 2023 in Germany and Switzerland.
On offer is a a cross-section of all three of the quintet’s studio outputs (recordings available from SPV).
It impressively hits home with a bang what was already assumed in the unanimously positive reviews of the last studio opus from 2023:
the Ellis Mano Band is also sensational live, and can level up with any of the top bands, internationally.
The musicians (vocalist Chris Ellis, guitarist Edis Mano, keyboardist Lukas Bosshardt, bass player Severin Graf and drummer Nico Looser) are truly virtuoso.
Interplay is tight;
the sound powerful and transparent.
A wide range of styles are at play here:
modern rock, full of blues & soul.
The emotional power of these original compositions, in which the live recordings are steeped, is quite gripping.
‘Live: Access All Areas’ documents an onstage snapshot in the middle of this band’s upward journey to success.
The band, a multinational outfit based in Switzerland see this as a fitting bridge to their upcoming fourth studio album (release: late 2024/early 2025)
Compared to the versions on the sonically perfect studio works (including ‘Ambedo’/2021 and ‘Here And Now’/2019), the original compositions sound edgier and earthier live.
They also let loose with pretty amazing improvisations.
The jam aspect is exemplified by the ten-minute track ‘A Lifetime’, the video of which ended up on Joe Bonamassa’s YouTube playlist and has had over 372,000 views.
The recording confirms the international media judgement:
“They have what it takes to conquer the stages of the world, because Ellis and his men are not only outstanding musicians, but also skilful songwriters…”,
Rocks magazine stated.
“Hearty blues rock and ballads in tingling guitar riffs, soft key clicks of a Hammond and gripping vocals, spiced with Latin flavour and jazz prizes: the Ellis Mano Band succeeds through direct feelings”,
noted Grand Guitars.
“The band’s style is original, diverse, but overall very coherent,”
was Classic Rock’s verdict.
“This amazing band does everything right,”
was eclipsed’s verdict.
The English website Great Music Stories described their sound as
“Joe Cocker, Dire Straits, Van Morrison, Toto and Chris Rea all having an improptu late-night jam”.
According to Rock It!, this is something
“For fans of The Black Crowes, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Gov’t Mule, Wishbone Ash”.
In any case, what the musician mag Gitarre & Bass orated:
“You’re guaranteed to hear a lot more great things from this band in the future”
and summarised:
“Fabulous concert!”
‘Live: Access All Areas’ contains music at its finest;
timeless and 100% handmade.
The album title is also known elsewhere in the abbreviation AAA (Triple A).
This abbreviation stands for the highest rating that rating agencies can award.