john ellison maspalomas costa canaria soul festival

John Ellison to play Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival

American soul legend joins festival line-up

Legendary American musician John Ellison will perform at the tenth edition of the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival, which runs from 17 to 19 July in Gran Canaria. He is the second artist announced for the festival, following Koko-Jean & The Tonics.

The veteran songwriter and guitarist will give a concert on Saturday 18 July at 7.30pm on the main stage at Playa de San Agustín.

A six-decade career

Born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1941, Ellison is the author of a classic soul and rhythm and blues track: Some kind of wonderful, which he wrote in 1967 and has been covered by numerous artists. A fundamental figure in African American music, his career spans more than six decades. By the age of 18 he was already singing soul, and in New York he joined the Soul Brothers Five, who with Ellison became the Soul Brothers Six, where he served as guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter. The band split in the 1970s, and Ellison continued performing.

In 1993 he released his first solo album, Welcome Back, followed by Missing You in 2000, Back in 2008 and Up for Funk in 2013. In October 2015, Ellison – who regularly performs in Europe, Asia and North America – was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Five years later he released Wake-up Call (Black Like Me), nominated for Song of the Year 2021 at the Pop Awards. And in 2023 he revisited his classic Some kind of wonderful as the title track of an album featuring eleven new songs written by Ellison and produced by Roger Heijster.

Last year, his song Let’s Get This Party Started was nominated for Best Funk of 2024 in the poll run by platform and festival Born Bred in West Virginia.

A free event by the sea

Ellison’s addition to the bill reinforces the international character of the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival and underlines the event’s commitment to bringing together leading artists in a unique setting by the sea. Organised by San Bartolomé de Tirajana Town Council and directed and produced by DD Company Producciones, the festival is the largest free soul event in Spain and one of the genre’s essential fixtures in Europe.

Source

Scroll to Top