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Before Frank Sinatra, before Miles Davis and before John Coltrane, there was a wild, danceable kind of jazz comprised of syncopation, unexpected rhythms and sly, racy, comic lyrics. This was the '20s, '30s and '40s jazz of musicians like Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong. This rough, high-octane wild jazz is the source for the retro-inspired modern swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy brought their high energy, modern swing music and style to the Anheuser-Busch Hall of the Touhill Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 28 at 8 p.m. The California-based miniature big band performed a two hour concert without a break before an enthusiastic, near capacity crowd.
The crowd had gotten in the mood with a pre-show swing dance demonstration by the Casa Loma Dancers in the Touhill lobby.
A guy in a zoot suit - that late '30s to early '40s style with big shoulders, a narrow waist and a long double-breasted jacket paired with ballooning pants - strolled through the aisles of the packed Touhill. Completing his attire were shiny black and white spectator shoes and a wide-brim fedora, with an impossibly long feather sprouting from the hat band. It set the perfect mood for the evening.
Paul Harris of KMOX radio introduced the nine-member band, who bounded onto a stage set with art deco type music stands, in the style of the era. The band was decked out in suits representative of the swing era. As soon as the lights hit the stage, frontman Scotty Morris launched the band into one of their signature, rollicking '40s jazz-inspired tunes.
BBVD claims that it is not really a retro band, as they mostly play music inspired by early big band jazz, rather than authentic tunes of the era. The band's program notes refer to the 1940s as their musical inspiration. The band has been around since the early 1990s but became nationally known with an appearance in the 1996 film "Swingers."
The band is fronted by lead singer Scotty Morris on electric guitar, who sometimes conducted the band and danced a bit, evoking the style of Cab Calloway and other big band leaders. The band had several horn players, with Alex Henderson on trombone, Tony Bonsera on trumpet, Glen "the Kid" Markevka on trumpet, Andy Rowley on baritone saxophone, and Karl Hunter on tenor saxophone and clarinet. The band's sound was rounded out by Joshua Levy on piano, Dirk Shumaker on upright bass and Kurt Sodergren on drums.
After an opening set of lively '40s style tunes, including some of the band's hits and Cab Calloway style jive and scat, BBVD switched gears and played selections from their album "Save My Soul," a tribute to the music of New Orleans, starting with a piece in New Orleans' sly, slinkier, more bluesy flavor.
The band followed that up with a boogie-woogie influenced dance piece. The band also performed the haunting title track "Save My Soul," a dusky New Orleans slide and modern tune with a hint of the New Orleans classic "St. James Infirmary." The pace of the song may have been slower but it crackled with feeling.
BBVD followed this up with their versions of some real retro tunes, including Cab Calloway's signature song "Minnie the Moocher," a tune including a sample of "It Don't Mean A Thing If You Don't Have That Swing," and a calypso/salsa flavored version of "I Want To Be Like You" from the Disney film "Jungle Book."
The band took no intermission, but various members took solos to feature their talent while the rest of the band took a little break. Several of the solos featured Glen "The Kid" Marhevka on trumpet, often with frontman Scotty Morris keeping up a playful thing with the audience, saying, "It's the Kid!" and gesturing behind Marhevka's back for them to cheer. Morris kept up a patter with the audience throughout the show and often looked like he was having as much fun as anyone in the seats.
Audience response was enthusiastically vocal. There was no room to dance, but the audience was bopping in their seats and crowded next to the stage near the concert's end. For an encore, the band played a house-rocking "So Long, Farewell, Goodbye" and for some reason, broke into a bit of "Sweet Home Alabama" to laughs from the audience.
The mixed-age audience thoroughly enjoyed the show and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy seemed to have a good time too, with band leader Morris commenting on how beautiful the Touhill was and saying the wanted to come back really soon. Fans would certainly be pleased with that.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
Where: Touhill PAC
When: April 28, 8: p.m.
Genre: Modern swing dance
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