Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, a review by Ed Conway

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performed at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on March 21st, 2023. This is the review, by Ed Conway.

The preeminent 40s, swing era, big band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy made a stop at one of the most sonically perfect venues, The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.  The band began in 1989 when lead singer/guitarist/banjo player, Scotty Morris, got together with drummer, Kurt Sodergren.  The name came from a time Morris met blues legend Albert Collins.  Collins signed a poster for Morris “To Scotty, the big bad voodoo daddy.”  Thinking that it sounded like the coolest thing ever, the band name was a no-brainer.  Morris and Sodergren are joined on stage by a fine group of musicians, each of whom stepped up and performed sublime solos at various times during the evening.

They have a good mix of original material, such as, “Go Daddy-O”, as well as, a few covers, such as their well known cover of Cab Calloway’s “Minnie The Moocher,” which featured a trombone solo by Andy Henderson and Disney’s Jungle Book song, “I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song)”, which featured, trumpeter Glen “The Kid” Marheva, stepping to the front for one of several of his solos throughout the evening.  “She’s The One For Me” featured solos by Mitch Cooper (Trumpet) and Joshua Levy (piano).  While the horn section provided the brash brightness of a finely tuned group who have played together a lot, they also stepped to the mic for a five part harmony on “Jumpin’ Jive.”  The horn section also showed off their dance moves on “Diga Diga Doo” along with a soprano sax solo by Karl Hunter.  Bari Sax player Andy Rowley and bassist Dirk Shumaker provided spot on harmonies throughout the evening.  They also found spots to completely switch songs in the middle of the main one, such as “Jumpin’ Jack” using a break with “It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing” and their aptly titled final song “So Long-Farewll-Goodbye,” featured a nod to Nirvana, with “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Coming up on their 30^th anniversary, the band is showing no signs of slowing down.  Several times throughout the performance, Morris led a New Orleans style march around the stage with the horn section in tow.  It was great to see the nearly full audience sit in rapt attention as we were mesmerized by the stellar musicianship on display.  The only complaint I heard was, being in a theater, there was no room to dance, high praise for a band that appeared to have as much fun as the audience.