Following Cajun supergroup sextet High Performance’s blueprint of releasing two live CDs from the same 2008 performance, spin-off quartet 4Horses adheres to same formula. Live at La Poussiere – Part Two is the second installment of the live performance on June 4, 2022, at Breaux Bridge’s La Poussiere Cajun Dancehall, one of Acadiana’s few remaining classic dancehalls.
4Horses has become one of the current popular Cajun dance bands. While it follows the blueprint of its spawning entity, in terms of releasing albums, it also breaks the mold of the typical Cajun ensemble by having no fiddler in its solid line-up of Jamey Bearb, accordion and vocals; Richard Comeaux, steel guitar; Brazos Huval, bass; and Kevin Dugas, drums. Bearb, High Performance’s fiddler, dusted off his accordion and slid over to the squeezebox chair, surprising everyone with his playing ability.
It’s an unusual line-up, but one that works well. Comeaux is spectacular on steel, and that’s not just idolatry praise. He is the ensemble’s centerpiece, especially for those who relish the steel guitar side of Cajun music. Comeaux keeps a jukin’ rhythm striking the strings while Bearb hammers away on the loud little box and supplies quick, unobtrusive arty fill-ins between Bearb’s lines. When it’s time to solo, Comeaux usually launches something airborne that’s mind-blowingly beautiful. Just like 4Horses’ predecessor album Live at La Poussiere – Part One where Comeaux got the whole pool to himself for “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie,” he does here as well, on the sauntering instrumental “Crying in the Chapel” that recalls the emotional impact of Santo & Johnny’s ’59 chart-topper “Sleep Walk.”
If there’s any question about Comeaux’s uncanny prowess, 4Horses traveled to the prestigious Southwestern Steel Guitar Association Show in Arizona as Comeaux’s backing band in January, the first Cajun band to ever appear at one of the nation’s biggest steel guitar shows.
But mind you, it’s not just the Comeaux show but a tight band on all fronts. The Huval-Dugas rhythm section pushes and stomps the beat on the waltzes; Bearb is a precise and accurate accordionist in the land where the accordion is king, and everyone is a critic. He blazes on “Merry Maker” and “Hicks Wagon Wheel Special,” and sounds grandiose and stately on waltzes “Give Me Another Chance” and “Madam Sostan.” On the rollicking “Lucille,” he and Comeaux jam in a call-and-response style that’s practically telepathic.
The last song, Governor Jimmie Davis’ “Nobody’s Darling,” is not from La Poussiere, but follows its predecessor by being a bonus studio track recorded at Travis Matte’s Kingpin Studios. This time Bearb crosses one off his bucket list by performing as a duet with venerable Acadiana country singer Tammy Lynn. With Lynn’s Grand Dame vocals and Bearb’s pleasant baritone, their voices mesh gloriously together. Lynn sings the first verse in English; Bearb follows eloquently with the second. They reunite on the chorus, before Bearb sings it again in French. This song has rarely been performed as a duet, let alone partially in French. Put all bakers’ dozen tracks together and you have another lobbing toss and clanking ringer by 4Horses.
