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Get set for gypsy jazz

Blue Moon Marquee is a Canadian band who will be bringing their sound to the Shuswap
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Blue Moon Marquee is made up of A.W. Cardinal and Jasmine Colette. They will play Salmon Arm May 12. -Image credit: Photo contributed.

Stemming from the Badlands of the Rocky Mountain prairies, Blue Moon Marquee is a self-styled Canadian gypsy blues band who will be bringing their sound to the Shuswap.

This authentic and unique duo writes and performs original compositions influenced by early blues, folk roots, swing and ragtime.

A.W. Cardinal, a Metis of Cree heritage, howls with a distinctive thick and smoky vocal while playing a jazz-tinged blues guitar. Jasmine Colette, aka Badlands Jass (Bill Bourne, Paul Pigat), is the rhythm section who not only commands the upright bass but also keeps the swing with both feet while singing harmonies.

Blue Moon Marquee’s passionate performances and smouldering onstage chemistry is their trademark, and the way Colette’s honey tones lift A.W.’s beaten-down “bukowski-esque” mystique is something that enthrals audiences from the back-room bar to the public square.

They will be appearing Friday, May 12 at The Handmade Shoppe in the former Canadian Tire location at 2090 10th Ave. SW.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. with doors open at 6 p.m.

Now West-Coast based, they have been steadily touring for the last four years. They were the most-requested Canadian band for the 2016 International Jazz festivals across Canada, and were invited to play nine jazz festivals across Canada (Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Regina, Edmonton, Ottawa, Saskatoon and Montreal, Lethbridge) all told, playing 15 jazz, blues and folk festivals in total. They have been on Holger Petersen’s Saturday Night Blues as his featured artist twice in the last two years, and have received substantial airplay on CKUA and CBC, which took their 2016 album to #2 on the National Roots and Blues charts.

In 2016 Blue Moon Marquee was nominated for a Maple Blues award for Best New Artist and are nominated for Indigenous Artist of the Year for the Western Canadian Music Awards 2017.

Tickets are $20 each and are available at Acorn Music. Advance tickets can also be purchased online at https://acousticavenue.tickit.ca