Description
Ellis is a guitarist’s guitarist, with 17 solo albums to his name, Ice Cream in Hell has guitar playing that’s frighteningly close to perfect, but what seals the album is the passion beneath the guitar playing.
On the title track, Ellis’ guitar hops through the track with lines that have that bright Allman Brothers feel, but also a dark gritty bluesiness. Keyboardist/co-producer Kevin McKendree sets a beautiful table for Ellis, on this and each of the album’s tracks. The two musicians have a great relationship, obviously listening to each other and playing off each other, while maintaining every song’s structure. The songs, all Ellis originals, sound strangely familiar. He has his own takes on blues rock classics, but his ability to nail all of those licks we know so well, while still preserving his own muscular playing, which lies firmly in the Albert King/Stevie Ray Vaughan camp, is consistently impressive.
