PRINTAlbum review: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy — How Big Can You Get?
Courtesy of Vanguard Records
April 30, 2009 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Once the embodiment of all things cool in the ’30s, swing music lost its spark and was forced out of the limelight by bop music and the Debbie-Downer Depression. The forgotten genre of swing appeared destined to be remembered only by eccentric music teachers or heard in lame Chips Ahoy commercials. But just like flare pants and the Osmonds, swing is back to haunt you. In a good way.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the modern big band from California, returns with its sixth studio album, How Big Can You Get?, an 11-track tribute to swing maestro Cab Calloway. Even if swing is not your bag, there is a charm about the album that will leave you yearning to do the jitterbug in a technicolored zoot suit until it ends.
The album begins with a roar of horns in “Come On With The ‘Come On,’” and How Big Can You Get? definitely brings it. Each track is covered by an insane rhythm section and is pure fun. Many tracks have some of the craziest stories that even the most talented fiction writers could conjure up. A zombie cokehead creeps about New York and searches for lost love in “The Ghost of Smokey Joe.” (“He stood and looked around, then you heard Old Smokey Shout: ‘Where’s My Minnie? My poor Minnie’”). Tarzan even leaves the jungle behind to be a playboy at the Savoy Club in “Tarzan of Harlem.”
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is like the Brian Setzer Orchestra, except without the bleached-blond conk and 10 times better. The Californians revamp Calloway’s hits and do the Hi-de-ho’s legend justice. Imaginative reed and drum solos stand out, and attempts at Calloway’s trademark dialect (who doesn’t love “hoochie coocher?”) bring his charm to life. How Big Can You Get? is your grandfather’s swing with new life. It’s a jazz-lover’s dream and an MTV baby’s afterthought. But this rare work of art, chock-full of flair and funk, is guaranteed to turn even the biggest wannabe gangsters and emo kids into hoochie coochers.
Vox Rating:
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