In music, when something feels natural – and naturally good – you don’t fight it too hard.
And that’s why Mojo Zydeco and The Blues Caboose are coming together as a musical “tag team” to help raise funds for Alexandra Neighbourhood House, Saturday, Aug. 25 at 8 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion Crescent Branch 240, 2643 128 Ave.
Billed as a “Raising The Roof Dance,” it’s almost literally that – a chance to raise funds for roof repairs for the hall at the venerable Crescent Beach landmark also known as Camp Alexandra.
“I’m a long-standing coffee house guy,” said Mojo leader and Blues Caboose guitarist Randy Schultz, referring to the Crescent Moon Coffee House, for which Camp Alexandra hall was a former venue.
“I’ve got history there.”
That’s why the answer was an instant yes when the Legion’s Henri Wendel, also entertainment co-ordinator for Camp Alexandra, approached Schultz with the idea of playing a fundraiser for the roofing project.
“I immediately came up with the title “Raising The Roof” – and an idea: let’s have Mojo and Blues Caboose together, raising the roof of the Legion to save the roof of the hall,” he said.
“It’s a pretty simple concept for a night of high-energy dance music.”
It seems appropriate that such visceral roots music be employed in the service of the historic hall, originally built in 1916 as part of the Alexandra Fresh Air Camp – a summer facility for children from Vancouver’s Alexandra Orphanage.
Today, it’s part of the Association of Neighborhood Houses of B.C., an evolution of the organization to which the original Alexandra Orphanage belonged.
Schultz’s wife, Jane, rub-board queen of Mojo Zydeco, said that, realistically, the gig can only start the process of re-roofing the hall.
“We’ll raise a few shingles, but probably not the whole roof,” she said, laughing.
“Hopefully, it’ll be the beginning of a series of events that support the cause – it’s wonderful to do local things like this.”
The gig marks the return of Blues Caboose, well remembered but long-missing on the local scene, Schultz said.
“It hasn’t been a band for a long time, although it came out of the closet a couple of times over the last decade,” he said.
Because most of the current line-up of Mojo Zydeco are also past players in Blues Caboose, the logistics of bringing the two bands together are not quite as difficult as they might sound, Schultz said.
“The leader of Blues Caboose, was and is (guitarist-vocalist) Tony Rees, and we’re really only bringing in accordionist Sue Bains to make it Mojo Zydeco and Harriet Quint to relieve Jane on rub-board.”
Although he’s long been dedicated to bringing Zydeco – the highly-charged, rhythm heavy music of rural Louisiana – to B.C. audiences, Schultz continues to be a fan of Rees original concept; taking obscure blues from the 1920s and 1930s and playing them in a modern blues format.
At the time he talked to the Peace Arch News, Schultz had not yet decided how the evening would be programmed.
“We’re not sure how we’re going to do it,or who goes first” he said.
“We’re obviously going to do a set each, but we’d also like to try to fuse both bands together – add in the accordion and the rub-board.”
Tickets ($20) are available from the Legion, Camp Alexandra and tickets.surrey.ca
