Despite its name, the music of the Canadian duo Blue Moon Marquee has nothing to do with Tom Verlaine’s television, rather, it connects to blues and gypsy swing as main ingredients, which are not unique. Indeed, ever since vocalist and guitarist AW Cardinal opened his mouth on the first track (the splendid ‘Big black mamba’) the name of Tom Waits inevitably comes to mind: like the beast of Pomona, Cardinal more than singing howls in a hoarse and wolfish voice; It’s no coincidence that his latest album is called ‘Scream, holler and howl’, meaning something like howl and howl.

His partner Jasmine Colette also sings, seated playing the double bass while tapping single drums with her feet: with the right he hits the snare drum and the hi-hat and with the left the bass drum, and he always hits the rhythmic plate with his left hand, in an exercise in physical parade that leaves us speechless. With everything she does at the same time, you can’t ask for rigorous rigor, but the lady does more than well as a versatile woman-orchestra. He explained his secret to enduring an hour and a half of grueling multitasking: he grew up on a farm.

On their albums – and on their US tours – they are accompanied by other musicians, such as keyboards and saxophones, who add nuances and colors to their sound palette, but of course Both are enough and there are many of them on stage to charge with personality and solvency a music impregnated with wild blues, jazz and swing from another time. With tracks of her own like ‘Thunderbird’, ‘Long black train’ or ‘Double barrel blues’, Cardinal’s excellent guitar can sound abrupt or subtle, delicate or hurtful, depending on the occasion, while Jasmine never stops wasting sweat and energy. Finally, another pleasant discovery thanks to the Rock & Blues Café.