Some shows you can’t resist, even on a Monday night. One of these was Maria In The Shower who returned to tear up t
he Slice, Monday, March 28.
You just can’t stand still at a show from this East Vancouver based four piece who took a small but mighty audience on a journey around the world and through time as they played an array of music influenced by ’40s jazz, French cabaret music, plus a couple Trinidad and Caribbean influenced songs.
I arrived in time for the second set to see them basically provide a workout for the many dancers in front of the stage and a workout for the musicians themselves, playing a cornucopia of notes while leaping all over the stage.
The band incorporated a variety of traditional sounds including accordion, trumpet, guitar, energetic stand-up bass and even some trombone.
We could have been in New Orleans rather than Lethbridge, from the sounds of all the cabaret styled fun.
Stand -up bassist Brendon Hartley writhed and danced , then laid back as trumpeter Jack Garton stood on the side of the bass and blew a lot of notes during ‘St. James Infirmary.’
Garton sang most of the songs this time round, with guitarist/ trombonist Martin Reisle singing a couple near the end.
They showed off some exceptional vocal harmonies especially at the end as enthusiastic audience members wouldn’t let them off the stage, calling for encores, which they granted with a very cool a cappella number to end the show around 11:30 p.m.
