Big Bad Voodoo Daddys

[Dan Gould]

Yeah, I guess that's why many people got mad.... I didn't know at all but I get what you mean because BBVD came out like what 10 yrs ago? But thanks for all your support. Do you think I can find info saxophone brands on here? I'm sure I could....

It is not when they came out...rather it is that they were not really as authentic sounding. I think they are fun, and if the energy is right and the tunes are good I'll give any band a serious listen.

Which is precisely why I suggested the album above. Those guys aren't about "dressing the part" and sound very authentic. I came very close to using their arrangement of a Dameron tune on my BFT, the solos and arrangement were so good. Seriously worth checking out.

[chris olivarez]

I'll check it out Dan. BTW is that same Dave Clark that wrote "Poverty" and "Help The Poor"?

[Big Beat Steve]

What I found interesting was how the whole thing seemed to be about combining three older styles (jump band/rockabilly-surf/Rat Pack) into one, sort of the musical equivalent of clearing up space on your hard drive by compressing old files you don't use much any more.

That just about sums it up - in a positive way, I'd say.

What's wrong with combining these musical elements? That "Rat Pack" music (or "lounge" music as others might call it) never appealed too much to me, for example, but in this package it adds a new twist to contemporary swing-based music. Formerly combinations like this would have been called "crossover", and what used to be "authentic" hard bop like they used to play in the late 50s/early 60s became "post-bop" in the process or whatever so purists have nothing to complain about. Post-bop isn't that much closer to hard bop than some (!) neo-swing is to mainstream swing. Cross-breedings like this have always existed so don't sneer at it.

As for the music, I never really went for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy that much when that Neo-Swing thing was happening in the 90s (if the CD's I've heard ae anything to go by then bands like Indigo Swing, the New Morty Show, The Royal Crown Revue or Big Time Operator just sounded a lot more interesting to me - not to mention Eddie Reed or Bill Elliott) but they did contribute to making non-jazz people aware of Swing as a musical style worth exploring.

And fad or not - all these bands did contribute to putting "the real thing", i.e. 30s and 40s swing, back into a lot of listener's ears, and at least over here in Europe they have turned on quite a few listeners to authentic swing and, hence, to jazz, and have made a few new addicts.

That's more than can be said of certain "pure" avantgarde jazz forms so what more can you expect under these circumstances?

Edited January 12, 2007 by Big Beat Steve

[Dan Gould]

I'll check it out Dan. BTW is that same Dave Clark that wrote "Poverty" and "Help The Poor"?

Is that the Dave Clark Five? If so, then I don't think so. In fact I'm pretty sure he hasn't written any such songs.

[JSngry]

What I found interesting was how the whole thing seemed to be about combining three older styles (jump band/rockabilly-surf/Rat Pack) into one, sort of the musical equivalent of clearing up space on your hard drive by compressing old files you don't use much any more.

That just about sums it up - in a positive way, I'd say.

What's wrong with combining these musical elements?

Nothing at all. I compress files I don't use much any more all the time. It's useful, beneficial, and frees up some much-needed space.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I'll check it out Dan. BTW is that same Dave Clark that wrote "Poverty" and "Help The Poor"?

I think this Dave Clark was a Jimmy Lunceford musician who turned promotion man. Apparently he was the first person to persuade a DJ to play a record (a Lunceford record) in 1938. He subsequently worked for Duke/Peacock, Stax, then Malaco into the 1990s.

MG

[chris olivarez]

I'll check it out Dan. BTW is that same Dave Clark that wrote "Poverty" and "Help The Poor"?

Is that the Dave Clark Five? If so, then I don't think so. In fact I'm pretty sure he hasn't written any such songs.

No definitely not that Dave Clark. Magnificent Goldberg may have answered the question.