Blue Moon Marquee Bare Knuckles and Brawn

Blue Moon Marquee
Bare Knuckles and Brawn
Blue Moon Marquee Music

This disc from the Vancouver, British Columbia duo fell through the cracks last summer. Blue Moon Marquee is comprised of A.W. Cardinal (vocals and guitar) and Jasmine Colette (bass/vocals). They are joined on this recording by Darcy Phillips (piano/organ), Gerry Cook (sax/clarinet), Jimmy "Hollywood" Badger (drums), Jack Garton (trumpet), and Paul Pigat (guitar). Cardinal describes the music on this recording, "It is a fine example of what we sound like with a larger ensemble. The sound is a mixture of swing styles of music like blues and jazz, western swing and New Orleans. Think Django Reinhardt/Charlie Christian meets Tom Waits."

Cardinal's 'whiskey-drenched' vocals with his raspy, steel-wool voice might suggest Tom Waits, while the music evokes smoke-filled lounges of decades past. Some (not this listener) may find his singing an acquired taste. Cardinal wrote the eleven songs starting with "Big Black Mamba" about a shadowy, fantasy girl, with Cook's barrelhouse baritone sax solo to punctuate Cardinal's complaint about her being the meanest girl he ever saw. The tango feel adds to the song's evocative mood. Then there is the jaunty "Smoke Rings For My Baby," with a rousing tenor sax solo and driving swing guitar under the heated vocal. "Fever Flickering Flame" has the feel of a French back street cabaret. Phillips takes a brief solo, followed by a couple of animated joint tenor sax-guitar choruses.

Collette sings in an appealing, understated manner on the haunting "Hard Times Hit Parade," with Garton's muted trumpet adding musical shading. "As I Lay Dying" presents an intriguing take on feminism and the fall of the patriarchy. "High Noon" is a perky performance with a Django Reinhardt meets Rex Stewart vibe. There is plenty of delightful interplay between Cardinal and Pigat on the effervescent "The Red Devil Himself," with a delightful swinging single-note solo. "Big Smoke" is a topical blues addressing climate change about "Big smoke baby, whole town burning down." Collette's restrained, yet vibrant singing, Garton's growling trumpet, and Cook's tenor sax enliven a song inspired by Billie Holiday, "52nd Street Strut."

Better a year late than never, this listener is glad that he came upon to "Bare Knuckles and Brawn." One appreciates the cross-genre character of the music and the restraint of the performances, resulting in a most engaging album.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a performance of "As I Lay Dying."

 

Paul Pigat's Diverse Roots Music

Roots-country guitarist-vocalist Paul Pigat would likely be classified in Americana if he was based in the States. Based in Vancouver he has two new CDs on Little Pig Records. One is as by Cousin Harley, Its a Sin, while the other is under his own name and entitled Boxcar Campfire. The two discs have very different flavors but are quite enjoyable in their separate fashion.

The Cousin Harley disc opens up with the rockabilly flavored Conductor Man, and listening to Pigat’s vocals along with his sizzling, twanging guitar, one might think of Pigat as a Yankee Marty Robbins crossed with the Johnny Burnette Trio as Keith Picot slaps the bass and Jesse Cahill kicks the rhythm around. The mood can switch to a bit jazzier guitar on the swinging “She’s Comin’ Back the old-style Western rocker, Sweet Little Angel, and scintillating instrumentals such as the swinging Beaver Fever, Swingin’ Life a Mofo, and Spooks. Cousin Harley will clearly appeal to fans of similar guitar masters with a similar country-roots base as Bill Kirchen and Deke Dickerson. Cousin’s Harley’ It’s a Sin is wonderful rocking music and terrific fun.

Pigat’s own Boxcar Campfire, is built upon a mostly acoustic quartet and has a folk-country feel with some blues tinges with Pigat on guitars and banjo, Tommy Babin on bass, Barry Mirochnink on drums and Paul Rigby on mandolin. The ambiance is more of what some might call “Americana,” ranging from the folk oriented Johnny’s Poorly, to the bluegrass flavored All Over Now. A reference point might be the great Leon Redbone, although Pigat’s recordings don’t have his dead pan humor. John Henry Part 2, with its dirge tempo, has Pigat on electric guitar and is an original lyric with this John Henry being an offspring of the hero, who never should have driven a spike on the line, being free with his knife and free with his gun.“ Corn Liquor has some nice finger style guitar with a Piedmont blues tinge, while “Nowhere Town,” is a reflective solo performance. Lonesome Whistle is a invigorating bluegrass-tinged treatment of an Hank Williams number rousing interplay between mandolin, acoustic guitar and steel guitar and followed by the amusing lyric of Sweet Tooth. Boxcar Campfire shows another side of Paul Pigat’s music and is the diverse performances are wonderfully performed and so very entertaining.

I received review copies from a publicity firm.