Big Bad Voodoo Daddy band brings the beats

An energetic and enthusiastic performance by dance band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on Friday night at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts proved wrong students who say that UConn has no nightlife to speak of.

A cabaret-like atmosphere perfectly fit the swing and jive music, with chairs set around small candle-lit tables to set a romantic mood.

Dual dance floors set up on either side of the stage allowed performance-goers to get up and strut their stuff during the program. Around 300 people were in attendance that night, eager to hear the sounds of Cab Calloway and Calloway-inspired music resonate through the hall.

The nine-piece band walked out onto the stage a little after 8 p.m., and opened their show with a fast-paced swing tune that got the audience excited and brought the energy up, where it stayed for the rest of the evening. A saxophone solo and scat singing from the band leader immediately evoked a Glenn Miller-like dance band feel. The band then segued immediately into "Calloway Boogie," a slightly slower, but still energetic, 12-bar blues swing. By this time, a few couples from the audience had started to dance to the irresistible beat.

Band leader Scotty Morris welcomed the crowd before beginning their next tune, one that he wrote and that appeared on their debut album. On this song, Morris showed his lively and powerful vocals. A showy tour-de-force intro for the drums kicked off the high-energy original, reminiscent of the big band classic "Sing, Sing, Sing."

This was followed by a laid-back, sultry swing song, "Hey Now, Hey Now," which featured call-and-response vocals between Morris and the horn section during the chorus. Morris even called upon the audience to sing along with the call-and-response during a break in the middle of the piece.

Morris brought back his guitar for the next chart, which was a true highlight for the horn section featuring the brass players trading eight-measure phrases amongst themselves for their solos. Unexpectedly, the next song ratcheted up the tempo immensely ("This one's only for the adventurous dancers among you," said Morris), creating a vigorous dance hall buzz on the floor. "The Jumpin' Jive," another Calloway classic, gave the horn section another chance to show that they were talented singers as well as instrumentalists, once again trading vocals with Morris.

"Inspiration's what it's all about," said Morris, before introducing his next song, the original "Zig Zagitty Woop Woop," a Dixie jazz piece inspired by time spent down in New Orleans.

This song had a "oom-pah" bass line typical of the style, and ended with a big three-minute drum solo showcase. The next piece, also written by Morris, came about as a challenge to get his daughter to dance to his music.

"She only liked to dance to Louis Armstrong. And ironically, her dad's a songwriter," he joked. Morris used his best gravelly voice for this chart, featuring solos from the brass, and of course, a big lead trumpet solo.

Before a short 20-minute break to give the horns a chance to rest their chops, the band ended with another original, "The Old Man of the Mountain." This song showcased Morris' songwriting talents well, featuring witty, whimsical lyrics.

The song even used a classic chord progression, and ended with a large shout chorus. After the intermission, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy got everyone back out onto the dance floor with a minor 12-bar blues swing, and then segued into their own moderate swinger "Jumpin' Jack."

The next song, "I Wanna Be Like You," brought a different feel to the evening, with the band's Latin-influenced interpretation. After a straight Latin sesquialtera blues piece, the band broke out in the Cab Calloway signature "Minnie the Moocher," which had the audience singing along to the scat sections.

Rounding out the last few songs of the night were another famous Calloway chart, "Reefer Man" and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's very own "Go Daddy-O." The audience got up for a standing ovation and started clapping, stomping and roaring for an encore after the band left the stage. The song, appropriately titled "So Long, Farewell, Goodbye," was written by the band specifically for encores like this.

The show, stretching almost two hours, was a success, with couples crowding the dance floor over the course of the entire night and the audience singing and clapping along to nearly every song. That evening, the audience was transported back to the golden age of dance hall jazz, and it didn't seem to matter to anyone if they returned.