The unique Canadian duo Blue Moon Marquee is at it again with Scream, Holler & Howl, a release that proves that the duo owns the recipe to a fun, fantastic, genre-bending stew of their own design.
The duo, which features A.W. Cardinal on vocals and guitar and Jasmine Colette on vocals and upright bass, captures a unique feel they’ve dubbed “Gypsy Blues” and delivers the listener to a different time and place. The duo’s influences include early blues, jazz, ragtime and swing music, among others. According to their website, the music “stomps and struts through the wilds, conjuring a blend where Howlin’ Wolf tangos with Django, Earnest Tubb shoots firecrackers with Cab Calloway, and Memphis Minnie throws dice with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.”
Simply put, Scream, Holler & Howl is great stuff, comparable to their 2019 release, Bare Knuckles and Brawn. Each of the tunes feature the gravelly Tom Waitsian vocals of Cardinal or the silky sounds of Collette’s more polished voice. Among the highlights are “Hound Dog On a Chain,” which you can check out below (with an actual video!); the title track, further below (also with a video); the slow-cooking, sultry “Lowlands;” and the bouncy “Long Black Train.”
Joining Cardinal and Collette on Scream, Holler & Howl were Darcy Phillips on keyboards, Jerry Cook on sax, Mike Pease on drums, Paul Pigat on guitar, Bonnie Northgraves on trumpet, and Senor Erik on tambourine, with producer Duke Robillard sitting in on guitar on several tracks.
About the author: Bill Wilcox is a roots music enthusiast recently relocated from the Washington, DC area to Philadelphia, PA and back again.