All-boys club sings blues with a feeling

The Performance: On a Thursday night recently, The Mel Samuel Blues Band rocked a city pub with a number of covers and a few originals. The four-member blues band had the father-son duo of Mel Samuel on guitar and

Saul

Samuel on vocals, along with Russell Manuel on drums and Darryl Raphael on bass.

They performed their own version of some classic numbers like Why I Sing The Blues, Everyday I Have The Blues by the legendary BB King along with a few originals like Have You Been Lonely, Got You On My Mind and Wanderer. “Apart from a few technical issues, we enjoyed the performance thoroughly. As the crowd cheered for us, we knew that we were doing absolutely fine,” said Mel, the backbone of one of the city’s premier blues bands.

Crowd says it all: The audience was seen moving towards the stage to dance to the rhythm of the blues and Saul’s powerful voice added to the mood. “It’s my uncle playing over there. I love listening to their music,” said Abigail, who was seen enjoying with her friends and family.

Actor Jayant Kripalani was also spotted swaying to the beat. He said, “Thank God I came here tonight. I’m enjoying a live show after so long!” Saul thinks events like Thursday Jazz Encounter are bringing back the lost glory of live shows in the city. “Kolkata had a thing for live shows, but it was going down over the years. Thanks to shows like this, they are reviving again,” he said.