Arcadia Performing Arts Foundation continues its 2015 Season with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on Friday, March 27 at 8pm. Known for their big-band, swing revival sound, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's hits include "Go Daddy-O," "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)" and "Mr. Pinstripe Suit."
Tickets, available online by visiting
www.Arcadiapaf.org, are $29.50 to $99.50 with VIP Meet and Greet Packages available. The theatre is at 188 Campus Drive at North Santa Anita Avenue, Arcadia CA 91007. For more information please call 626-821-1781.
Since 1993, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, named famously after an autograph by blues legend Albert Collins, has sold millions of records while their music has appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows. They have sold out concerts from the Hollywood Bowl to Lincoln Center and appeared on TV shows from Leno to Conan, Dancing with The Stars to Superbowl xxIII.
More about Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
In it's first years, having secured their legendary residency at the Derby nightclub in Los Angeles, they reminded the world-in the middle of the grunge era, no less-that it was still cool to swing, big band style. Today the high-energy nine-piece ensemble continues the party and takes things to the next level with the release of "Rattle Them Bones". The follow-up to the much lauded 2009 release, "How Big Can You Get?: The Music of
Cab Calloway", "Rattle Them Bones" still urges their millions of fans worldwide to shake and move to their inimitable grooves while also expanding their with new musical inspiration and influence.
While by design the musical focus of that session was Calloway's heyday of the 30s and 40s, "Rattle Them Bones" is a more expansive, ultimately liberating work that began with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's singer and chief songwriter drawing from some unexpected cultural wells.
Leader Scotty Morris said, "The goal with every album is to take the listener on a unique journey and the process this time involved choosing from my originals and a handful of covers we thought would fit the spirit of where the project seemed headed. Often as we start making sense of the material, the record tells us what it's going to be, and it was clear this time that we weren't going be limited to a single decade or vibe. We feel like we left Cab and started thinking about
Don Draper and
Mark Twain and along the way some fascinating ideas emerged that turned 'Rattle Them Bones' into a real celebration of the landscape of American music we love so much."
"After all these years," Morris says, "I still enjoy writing in a vintage style. I'm always looking for ways to challenge myself as a writer, so for this record I wanted to do something I had never done before and that was to write a duet." Not only was Morris able to rise to the challenge, but "It Only Took A Kiss" is one of the album's real standouts. With its irresistible charm and timeless bounce it's hard to believe it's not an 80 year-old standard. "We were looking for the classic, simple yet timeless kind of love song that Gershwin did so well. So influence from this particular era is foundational, but on the new album, the tune falls right in the middle of a grand sweep of musical Americana."
By now the world knows the essential story of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy-the band co-founded by Morris and drummer Kurt Sodergren made their debut in their hometown of Ventura, California in April of 1993 helping to usher in the swing revival founded on a colorful fusion of classic American sounds including jazz, swing, and Dixieland mixed with the energy and spirit of contemporary culture. They proved to be among the standout groups that launched the new swing era in the 90's. The group, whose core lineup been in place since 1995, includes Scotty Morris (lead vocals and guitar), Kurt Sodergren (drums and percussion), Dirk Shumaker (double bass and vocals), Andy Rowley (baritone saxophone and vocals), Glen "The Kid" Marhevka (trumpet), Karl Hunter (saxophones and clarinet) and Joshua Levy (piano and arranger.) Joining them on the road are Anthony Bonsera Jr. (lead trumpet) and Alex Henderson (trombone.)
Although music by other composers have been featured on each of the band's albums, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy has always focused on original music, producing an impressively diverse songbook, while embracing the past and today's times with current perspective and new stories to tell. The band's originals rocketed the group into its first phase of stardom when "You & Me and the Bottle Makes Three (Tonight)" and "Go Daddy-O" were featured in the 1996 indie film landmark Swingers. The film launched the careers of
Vince Vaughn and
Jon Favreau and established BBVD as a cultural force beyond their home base of L.A.
The band has built a career through relentless touring and an impressive discography that includes the platinum selling, "Americana Deluxe" and follow-ups "This Beautiful Life", "Save My Soul", and "Everything You Want For Christmas". Their music has appeared in countless films, television shows, and trailers including "Swingers", "The Wild", "Despicable Me", "Family Guy", "Phineas and Ferb", "Malcolm In The Middle", "Ally McBeal", as well as multiple uses of songs for dance routines on "Dancing With The Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance". The band's songs have also been featured in multiple Olympic gymnastic and figure skating routines (including Carly Patterson's 2004 gold medal win) and have been widely used for years as part of television broadcasts of high profile sporting events including the NFL, NBA, and PGA.
The band's numerous television appearances include "Dancing With The Stars", "The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno", "Late Night with Conan O'Brian", "Last Call with
Carson Daly" (the last of which the band wrote and recorded the show's theme song.) The band has shown true bipartisanship having played private events for the three of the last four presidents as well as events at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions on multiple occasions.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy hit pop music superstardom with their appearance in front of millions during the halftime show of the 1999 Super Bowl, while their 2003 New Orleans inspired album, "Save My Soul", shifted focus to playing theaters, performing arts centers, and large outdoor venues to selling out shows at the Hollywood Bowl,
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Lincoln Center, Chastain Park and Constitution Hall, to name just a few. The band often plays more than 150 shows a year and has appeared as special guests with many of the great American symphony orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, and U.S. Air Force Band.
While Big Bad Voodoo Daddy has sold millions of albums, the stage has always been the band's first home. "We make records because we have to, but play live because we love to," says Morris. 'Americana Deluxe' was really the first album to capture what we were doing live and we strive to capture the energy and excitement of the live show in all our recordings. It's amazing how the chemistry in this band still works after so many years. Whether on stage or traveling down the road on the bus, everyone is hanging out together, laughing and enjoying being part of such a remarkable enterprise and enduring friendship - one that is so rare in this business."
"We've never tried to put on airs or make people think we're something we're not," he adds. "There's an integrity that comes from writing and playing songs the way folks did in the old days, when they did it to capture the audience's imagination; not simply to click with a specific demographic. Our fans always know they're getting the real thing from us and true emotion that comes from the heart. We have no interest in being pop stars, but we have an absolute love of American music and a strong desire to share that with people."
About The Arcadia Performing Arts Center
The opening of the Arcadia Performing Arts Center, which anchors the northwest corner of the campus of Arcadia High School, on October 18, 2012, was the realization of a long-standing dream for the citizens of Arcadia to have a major center for arts and culture in the community. This 40,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility includes a main performance hall with seating for 1,150, a stage that holds 200 musicians, tunable acoustics and professional lighting and sound. In addition, the center boasts an orchestra room with practice rooms and music library, a dance studio with sprung wood floors, a professional stagecraft workshop and a Black Box theater with separate control room and flexible seating that can host 125 guests.
The realization of the Performing Arts Center clearly shows the commitment of the Arcadia community to the arts. With this realization comes the need for another commitment - to the future of the building, arts education and arts programming. The Arcadia Performing Arts Foundation is dedicated to maintaining the Performing Arts Center as a nucleus for the arts, education and engagement where the lives of students and the greater community are enriched.
The Arcadia Performing Arts Foundation has currently set a fundraising goal $10 million that will result in an endowment to provide regular funding for the Performing Arts Center and the district arts programs. The Arcadia Performing Arts Center provides a first-class venue for the San Gabriel Valley where the public can enjoy major concert and performing arts attractions, and where student talent can be fostered and supported with a venue for their work.
The 2015 Arcadia Performing Arts Foundation season sponsors are Alan and Sandy Whitman, Mickey and Lee Segal and Momentous Insurance.
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