The harmonious merging of food and music is happening this Sunday in Comox at Becky’s Bakery with singers Dallas Warren and Joanna Finch.
With suggestions from the audience of time, place, mood and keyword — pre-written on the tickets — Warren and Finch will weave improvised impressions using wit and whimsy, voice and body music to create on-the-spot cabaret, reflecting the mood and humours of the evening.
“Two singers singing from the heart, with and without accompaniment, following their musical instincts, is spine-tingling,” beams Finch.
With support musicians Jim Lambert and Cory Mclean Joyce on guitars and Jon Baker on accordion, each singer will present a set of their own compositions as well as interact collectively with the audience reflecting wherever the mood takes them.
Warren and Finch have set the musical perimeters to suggest a French café, where senses are treated to lush and soulful songs.
Warren is a 24-year-old songstress with a dynamic voice and passion for singing her heart out. Her style dips into gypsy sorrowful, artsy jazz, easy folk, and soulful gospel.
Growing up in a talented musical family — who happen to own Becky’s Bakery — she was encouraged to play and be free with her expression, so Dallas is a natural improvisor. Through her choir experience, she has learned to sing in numerous different languages and styles, even having the chance to tour in beautiful Prague and Austria.
Over the past year, she has been picking up steam with her poetry and improvising, sharing gigs with C.R. Avery and Erica Dee and as a guest with the Naked DJs.
Finch is well-known on Vancouver Island for her delightful voice in diverse musical projects with VocalEase, as a vocal improvisation teacher, as a singer/songwriter with Norbury and Finch, Kitsch In Synch, Madame Jojo’s Cabaret and the Fabulous Ms Adventures. Her CDs have been played on radio around the globe and her songs have found spots on MTV and on cable TV shows.
Mclean is a lover of musical instruments. As a collector of guitars, he is best suited to an acoustic, but he can play bass, drums, keyboard and sax.
Mostly self-taught, Lambert is an gifted guitarist with musical sensibilities that go way beyond his years. He shares a passion for Latin jazz and old blues with Finch and has proven to be a brilliant accompanist to Finch’s diverse original music.
Lambert hosts the Cumberland blues jam every Wednesday, which is drawing the Valley’s top blues and jazz players. He also plays lead guitar in the popular top-40 band Boondock.
Baker, who sings and plays accordion and guitar, will complete the cast of performers at Becky’s. He grew up in the Comox Valley, where he sang in Cantiamo Choir, then later in bands in Montreal and Vancouver.
The evening commences at 6 p.m. on Sunday and will go until about 9:30. Each table will be set with a bottle of wine and guests will be served an ongoing array of hors d’oeuvres and tapas.
Tickets are pre-sold only, available in Cumberland at Sew Sisters Collective on Dunsmuir (next door to the liquor store), and in Comox at Becky’s Bakery on Anderton near the Little River Road turnoff.
— Joanna Finch