Mumbo Gumbo brings zydeco to Minden

Mumbo Gumbo performs 6:30 p.m. Friday in Minden Park for the GE Family Concert Series

No space can be reserved until 7 a.m. the day of the concert. In order for everyone to enjoy the concert, reserved spaces must be no larger than 100 square feet. If tape is used to reserve a section, it must be removed for safety and visibility reason before the concert starts. Also, no high back chairs or tables may be used.

Mumbo Gumbo blends many genres, from rock to soul, afropop to lush balladry, zydeco to country, into a celebratory, danceable noise.

“Over nearly 20 years, on the septet’s eight albums and during countless gigs around their native Northern California, Mumbo Gumbo has created something that is less a specific style than a particular feeling: The sound of sheer joy,” promoters said. “Or, as one of the band’s songs puts it, ‘That big life feeling.’”

Fronted by two first-rate singer/songwriters, Chris Webster and Tracy Walton, the band is anchored and driven by one of the longest-lived rhythm sections in Northern California: drummer Rick Lotter and bassist Lynn Michael Palmer. With Reggy Marks’ sax, Jon Wood’s guitar and Steve Stizzo’s keyboards fleshing out the band’s expansive sound, Gumbo has built a reputation not just for danceability, but for creative depth.

Singer Webster, who was a founding member of the band along with Palmer, has released four albums under her own name, as well as an album of duets with her sister Cassie, recording and performing as The Websters and Scott Nygaard. She has also collaborated with Matt Rollings, Nina Gerber, Jennifer Berezan and Jackie Greene.

Mumbo Gumbo’s music has been used in the hit TV show “Northern Exposure” and in director Charlie Matthau’s 2005 movie “Her Minor Thing” in which the band appears on screen.

“But despite their other ventures, the band is the thing, and at this point, Mumbo Gumbo is both an institution on the NorCal concert scene and an ever-evolving collective that can fill listeners with both joy and longing - and always makes sure to leave its audiences dancing their hearts out,” promoters said.

Concerts are free of charge due to the contributions of local businesses and organizations.

For more information please contact the Douglas County Parks & Recreation Department at 782-9828