Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at City Winery

In the 1980s, Scotty Morris performed in punk and alternative rock bands and was conceiving the idea of starting a swing revival band. One night after a concert, he asked Albert Collins to sign a poster, and the blues guitarist wrote, "To Scotty, the big bad voodoo daddy." Now Morris had a name for a band; he only had to assemble the players. He formed Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in 1989 in Ventura, California. In its early years playing clubs and lounges, the band concentrated on the swing of the 1940s and 1950s, soon adapting those arrangements to similar-sounding originals. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's first break was when three songs, "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)", "I Wan'na Be Like You" and "Go Daddy-O," were featured in the soundtrack of the 1996 comedy-drama Swingers. The band has sold more than two million records and showcased its music in films, television shows, parades, and football half-times, even performing before three U.S. presidents. For the past 25 years, the band has consisted of vocalist/guitarist Scotty Morris, drummer Kurt Sodergren, bassist Dirk Shumaker, baritone saxophonist Andy Rowley, trumpet player Glen "The Kid" Marhevka, saxophonist/clarinetist Karl Hunter, and pianist Joshua Levy.

At City Winery tonight, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was a nine-piece band, with the aid of touring members Alex "Crazy Legs" Henderson (trombone) and Mitchell Cooper (lead trumpet). Horn players comprised more than half of the ensemble, and so most of the songs featured horn solos during the extended instrumental sections. The band promised its fans that this tour would feature songs the band has seldom performed live, but even for first timers, the set was filled with crowd-pleasing jumping jive songs executed as authentically as if the band was first generation swing. Both on originals and covers, Morris' singing and Levy's arrangements embraced vintage American musical traditions for a vibrant, collection of high-flying jazz, swing, and dixieland dance tunes. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's set made a statement; well-played swing music may outlive most other forms of contemporary music.