The professional pairing of Queen guitarist Brian May and West End star Kerry Ellis will finally get some exposure in the U.S. on August 6 with the digital release of Acoustic by Candlelight (Live in the U.K.).
The music was recorded during May and Ellis’ Born Free tour in the U.K. from late last year and is timed to coincide with their second tour which will include Europe and an appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. For the tour, the duo played intimate shows with just vocal and guitar and occasional keys and lit by candlelight.
Ellis first came to May’s attention when she created the role of Meat in We Will Rock You, the West End musical co-created by May’s band Queen – after which she went on to become a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic starring as the Green Witch in the musical Wicked. Over the past 11 years May and Kerry Ellis collaborated during gaps in their schedules, developing new songs and arrangements in the studio, and various live dates together.
The original tour helped to promote the duo’s new recording of the standard Born Free which was done to benefit Virginia McKenna’s Born Free Foundation.
May said in a statement “Over the last year, Kerry and I have been recording new material when our schedules have allowed it. As on the Anthems album, some of the tracks have very big and splendid arrangements, but we have become more and more fascinated with the magic of great songs stripped down to their core and re-interpreted in an ‘acoustic’ way. We find there is a purity which makes the songs speak very clearly. Kerry’s instincts as an interpreter of songs are always inspiring, and the art of arranging has always been one of my obsessions. We have found that the two of us just working live off each other can distill the very essence of a song – and that’s what we hope to bring you in these performances. If you have a great song and a great singer, what more do you need? Well, maybe just a little bit of guitar!”
Track List:
Born Free
I Loved A Butterfly
I Who Have Nothing
Dust In The Wind
The Kissing Me Song
Nothing Really Has Changed
Life Is Real
The Way We Were
Something
Love Of My Life
I’m Not That Girl
I Can’t Be Your Friend
In The Bleak Midwinter
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
No One But You
Read more at VVN Music
