The Vernon Jazz Club is getting a second helping of hot Louisiana gumbo when Gary Comeau & The Voodoo Allstars return to the stage Saturday, Feb. 6.
This multi-talented group of musicians, who have been nicknamed “Swamp Kings from the West Coast,” are playing New Orleans-style roots and blues to another sold-out crowd at the club.
Comeau performs an array of instruments, including vocals, fiddle, mandolin, piano, accordion, and guitar, and will be joined by Tim Hearsey on vocals and guitar, Jerry Cook on sax, Dennis Marcenko on vocals and bass, and Chris “The Wrist” Nordquist on vocals, drums, and percussion.
Comeau and the band have a recipe for their unique Louisiana gumbo sound. It’s filled with spicy Louisiana Cajun and zydeco, silky New Orleans jazz and R&B, gritty Chicago roots and blues, saucy Cuban, and a salty dash of east coast Acadian folk. Blend this together with an influence of musical greats like Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, and Miles Davis and you’ve got a sound that you will never forget.
Since the late ‘90s, Comeau has released four albums: The Hunger, Gary Comeau, Letters From Eve, and Live at the Dream Café.
His song Marianne was featured in the movie Double Jeopardy starring Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones. Another, I Think About You All the Time, can be heard in the film Wise Guys.
Comeau & The Voodoo Allstars were a part of the B.C. Fire Relief Benefit which was put on by CBC TV and radio to raise money and awareness for the victims of the 2003 wildfires.
The band was also featured on Holger Peterson’s Saturday Night Blues.
Hearsey’s songs can be heard in both film and television. He co-wrote the Juno award winning album That River with Jim Byrnes.
Cook has recorded more than 20 albums with blues, jazz, funk, pop, rock, and R&B artists. He has toured with The Powder Blues Band and Colin James.
Marcenko has recorded and performed with k.d. lang, Colin James, Jerry Doucette, and John Lee Sanders. His sound can also be heard on the compilation Absolute Blues.
Nordquist has toured with musical greats like John Lee Sanders, David Vest, Tiller’s Folly, The Sojourners, and Jim Byrnes.
Local keyboardist and vocalist Brandon Schmor opens the show.
Schmor was one of eight performers selected to play at the North Okanagan Youth Showcase of Excellence (NOYSE) Sunday in Vernon and he also plays with The Keys, a high-energy band that gigs around the Okanagan.
Gary Comeau & The Voodoo Allstars, with opening act Brandon Schmor, hit the stage at the Vernon Jazz Club (3000-31st St.) Saturday. Doors open at 7:15 p.m. This show is sold out. Cash only bar. This event is sponsored by Expressions of Time.