Dave Keller You Get What You Give

Dave Keller
You Get What You Give
Tastee Tone Records

Singer-guitarist-songwriter Dave Keller has put together a special new recording dedicated to raising funds toward enhancing racial justice and equity. Keller, whose mix of soul and blues has earned him acclaim, fans, and friends, is joined by Trudy Lynn, Joe Louis Walker, Annika Chambers, Johnny Rawls, Annie Mack, Dawn Tyler Watson, Brother Bob White, Carly Harvey, Toussaint St. Negritude, Katie Henry, Chad Hollister and others who donated their time and talent for this recording. Even before release, raised over $2,000.00 from pre-orders with "all of which will go directly to groups working for racial justice and equity." The list of recipient groups includes the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Know Your Rights Camp, N'COBRA, and Jus' Blues Foundation.

Separate apart from the fundraising aspect of this album; the performances are stunning. This starts with the opening duet between Keller and Annika Chambers, "One More Tear." It is a superb Memphis soul styled song about two lovers who can't get over each other. The production, the playing, and the singing are exceptional. It sets the tone and standard for this album. More of the same is present in the duet with Carly Harvey, "The Thing We Do," as the two celebrate their love for each other. Another outstanding duet is the title track with Annie Mack with its country-soul flavor. There is an uplifting duet between Keller and Dawn Tyler Watson, "God Is Love/ Love Is Everything."

Among other inspired songs are "The Evil Men Do." This song has a topical lyric about this land be haunted with bodies handing on the tree and lying on the ground under a knee as Annika Chamber, Annie Mack, and Johnnie Rawls add their voices. Ira Friedman adds a stark piano backing, with Tom Palance adding a haunting trumpet solo. Friedman's spare piano also backs Keller's sober vocal on "The Spark." Brother Bob White sings and plays piano on the classic gospel number "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" with Keller adding responsive guitar.

There are other equally stirring performances. These include those with Joe Louis Walker and Katie Henry. Also, Keller's acoustic steel guitar and harmonica support Toussaint St.Negritude on the spoken blues "I'm Gonna Let It Shine," about standing on the banks of tomorrow and pressing for a brighter tomorrow. This number concludes a remarkable recording, one of the finest new recordings I have heard in 2020. "You Get What You Give" is not merely great music but raises money for a great cause.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here Dave performs "The Evil Men Do."

Dave Keller Every Soul’s a Star

Dave Keller
Every Soul’s a Star
Catfood Records

This writer has been a fan of the multi-talented Dave Keller since seeing him perform as well as back Johnny Rawls several years ago. This soul-blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist impressed and impressed me enough to support one of his recording projects. His new album is his first for the Catfood Records label, the label of his good friend Rawls, with Jim Gaines handling the production. he is backed by the label's studio band, The Rays, consisting legendary Motown guitarist Johnny McGee, along with Bob Trenchard – bass; Dan Ferguson - Hammond B3, Wurlitzer, keyboards; Richy Puga – drums; Mike Middleton – trumpet; and Nick Flood - tenor and baritone sax; plus backing vocals from Janelle Thompson and Shakara Weston; and percussion from Christopher Serrano.

With a voice that might suggest Delbert McClinton, gets right into a soulful groove with the opening "Don't Let Them Take Your Joy," adding a stinging solo to his stirring vocal, as he urges the listener to remember what makes one happy and fly, fly fly … ." It is a small gem of a performance in part due to the strong support provided by The Rays. The title track is a celebration of folks being who they are and then followed by the one cover, Ronnie Shannon's "Baby, I Love You." McGee takes the guitar lead with Keller's adding his phrasing, including a brief spoken rap, to a fresh interpretation of the Aretha Franklin's hit. Then there is a lovely heartfelt ballad "You Bring the Sunshine" that is so soulfully performed with the Rays coming off like the Swampers or Hi Rhythm Section (and Dan Ferguson shines on this).

Other highlights on a consistently superior recording include "It's All In Your Eyes," and "Kiss Me Like You Miss Me," both with McGee's concise solos. With strong original songs (one can easily imagine some of these being done by other performers), solid and empathic backing from The Rays, and Dave Keller's fervent performances, Keller again has produced another soul-blues gem.

I received my review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the November-December 2018 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 381).  Here is Dave Keller performing.

For folks in the DMV area, Dave Keller will be performing Fri Aug 2, St. Georges Country Store, St. Georges, DE, band, Sat Aug 3, Route 66 Club, Edgewood, MD, band and on Sun Aug 4, JV's, Falls Church, VA, band w/ Gabe Stillman, tent.

Dave Keller's Distinctive Blues Voice

Championed by Ronnie Earl, with whom he has played and recorded, Vermont based singer-guitarist Dave Keller brings together a mix of blues and soul on Play For Love (Tastee-Tone Blues). Playing in a blues band covering Otis Rush and B.B. King, he has been mentored by Paul Rishell and Mighty Sam McClain, among others. On this self-produced recording (his 3rd) he is backed by a tight band consisting of Jan Schultz on bass, Brett Hoffman on drums and Ira Friedman on keyboards.


Play For Love was recorded live with some overdubbing and editing of a few tracks. Keller certainly brings plenty to the table as a songwriter, guitarist and singer. On the opening Here I Am, he suggests Otis Rush with his tight guitar playing while a bit of Memphis soul underlies Give It a Rest, with a nice bluesy solo and solid organ from Friedman. The title track is a soulful ballad with lyrics that emphasize that despite one’s problem one has time to love. His playing displays a typical intelligent and restrained development of his solo. This is indicative of the album’s strength, Keller’s understated, yet strong playing, which leads to the consistently satisfying and convincing performances here. The variety of the music is further shown by the folky All Souls Are Built For Flying, where his strumming acoustic guitar is backed solely by Friedman’s organ, along with the closing guitar instrumental Gabriela.”His restrained approach is also matched by his backing band. There are several songs that the addition of a horn or two might have enlivened the performances even more, but the performances stand out as recorded.


This writer would not be surprised to hear some of these songs interpreted by other performers but they will be hard pressed to match Keller’s originals. This is available from cdbaby and is distributed by Burnside Records.

I have edited slightly my original review that appeared is the March 1 - April 15, 2010 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 324). Here is a link to Dave Keller's website. 


My review copy was likely provided by a publicist for the recording.