Mike Roman and The Tellstars have been one of the most popular and enduring groups in the Chicagoland area. The band’s multi - cultural appeal has contributed to their success and has made the group’s longevity possible. Their unique approach and interpretation of Latin Rock music has been the band’s trademark along with their original compositions and versatile arrangements featured in the group’s recordings and live performances.

The group’s musical ability to duplicate and interpret the sound of Santana began even before Mike Roman jammed with super rock star Carlos Santana and his original band in the San Francisco Bay area.

Mike Roman and The Tellstars are the only Latin Rock group in the Midwest that has had the honor to perform on stage, and record, with Santana band members. They are also the only group in the Midwest from which Carlos Santana has sampled a chant arrangement to perform in concert, during their 2008 “Live Your Light” tour.

Appearing at several popular music theatres, Mike Roman and The Tellstars have opened for many of Chicago’s top recording groups and have also performed on stage with the international mambo kings, including Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Ray Barreto, Armando Peraza, and Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa.

Mike Roman and The Tellstars have also performed at many popular theatre venues including the Radisson Star Plaza, the Riviera, the Apollo, the Congress, The Rialto, the Genesee, and the perennial Taste of Chicago.

The group has also appeared at several college concerts, top city and suburban nightclubs, several boat cruises on Lake Michigan, corporate private parties, golf days, and summer festivals. They have also made live appearances on Chicago radio and television shows broadcast across the nation showcasing their musical multi-talent for their large and loyal fan club.

Mike Roman and The Tellstars have also recorded and performed with Richard Bean, composer and lead vocalist with the Malo and Sapo bands. The Tellstars featuring Jose “Chepito” Areas was the opening act for Jorge Santana and Malo. The band also performed with Buddy Miles, the phenomenal drummer and lead vocalist with Jimmi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsies, and backed up the internationally known Jose Feliciano at the 2007 Viva Chicago Latin Festival. In 2008, Mike Roman and The Tellstars, featuring “Chepito” and Armando Peraza, opened for Los Lobos at Chicago’s premier lakefront Petrillo Music Shell. July 2009, Mike Roman and The Tellstars opened for the internationally acclaimed Los Lonely Boys at Hammond's Festival of The Lakes.

Most recently, The Tellstars recorded and performed in concert with two Latin legends and Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame members, Jose “Chepito” Areas and Michael Shrieve, the original percussion section of the world famous Santana band.

“Cha Cha Time!,” The Tellstars’ new cd, contains twelve original compositions. Three of the songs feature special guest artists, Jose “Chepito” Areas and Michael Shrieve. “Chepito” plays timbales on “Cha Cha Time!” and “Runaround.” Shrieve plays on “Tsunami 911,” which he also produced.

Cha Cha Time! reveals an innovative and fresh approach to fusing various genres with a potpourri of Afro/Latin rock rhythms, surf sounds, jazz and blues, where tight arrangements and concise solos realize the full potency of the music showcasing the latest line-up’s ability for creating a pure melody of rhythms and harmonic range over which a pleading guitar and wailing Hammond organ hold court with every musician feeding off each other in an orgy of musical instruments.

The song “Cha Cha Time!” has a foundation which fashions a party time feel over an invigorating mélange of multiple percussion, led by “Chepito” and a layered horn arrangement complementing the roaring guitar and growling Hammond organ. “Runaround” with its salsa and merengue rhythms evoke a sorcerer’s singing and crying guitar along with the singers’ soulful delivery and the brass’ unique contribution layered on top of “Chepito’s” spectacular timbale solo.

There is energy to spare on the mesmerizing “Tsunami 911” where phenomenal drummer Michael Shrieve, along with the group, introduces a monster “wave” of crashing surf sounds which finds its counterpoint in “Baby” Joel’s booming bass. Eli’s stabbing organ with driving chords from the heart of the grinding Leslie speaker, compels a dialogue between the dueling lead guitars of Mike Roman and his son, Michael Angelo, followed by Michael Shrieve’s masterful propulsive polyrhythmic bass drum technique in his “Woodstock-like” drum solo which is supplemented by a bass excursion with an artillery of esoteric riffs before the arrival of the second wave, culminating in a torrential climax as if fulfilling the Mayans’ apocalyptic 2012 tsunami prophecy.

“Ecstasy and Destiny,” with its romantic and fiery guitar, suggests a dichotomy of impressionistic excursions of Latin blues and “chamba,” half cha cha and half samba. “Only You,” a danceable romantic pop groove with a brass arrangement and saxophone solo, laced with the influence of the group Chicago. The optimistic “Alive” with its earthly canvas of colorful sounds and shuffled rhythms, “Visions,” a dreamy hypnotic ambiance evoking respect for the departed, “Rapture Dream,” where the sensual meets the spiritual in a collage of cha cha rhythms and Latin blues, “Reggaeton in Jamaica,” with its catchy form of pop-rock and clever use of reggae rhythms mixed with the montuno spell of the marimbas keyboard, “Everyday and Everynight,” smooth Latin jazz with a sultry beat, and “D-Day in Normandy,” an atmospheric complex overture with its symphony instruments layered around a bolero and samba beat which the group dedicated to the veterans of WWII.

With their unique musical arrangements of Santana classics along with their original compositions from their "Cha Cha Time!" CD, Mike Roman and The Tellstars have evolved into an artistically polished ensemble and remained true to their Latin rock roots while fusing jazz with surf sounds and salsa rhythms to create an exotic cocktail, which explodes in an exciting alchemy of Latin fire in all their live performances.

You can hear the "Cha Cha Time!" on radios across the Country, the CD is also available on iTunes and exclusively at Best Buy stores.

Associated Media