Christmas came to Fairbanks when Hollywood hipsters Big Bad Voodoo Daddy turned yuletide classics like "Blue Christmas," "Jingle Bells" and "We Three Kings" into a rollicking big band extravaganza. Their holiday show was cool enough to keep a snowman from melting. Like the Glen Miller Orchestra, Benny Goodman, and the Count Basie Big Band, BBVD's energetic performances draw enthusiastic audiences of all ages in cities around the world, Fairbanks now among them.

"Any dust left in the rafters of Hering Auditorium was definitely shaken out." - Wickersham's Conscience

If you missed the concert, here is the recap from Wickersham's Conscience.

Image: BBVD

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Review: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

As a part of an amazingly eclectic 2011-2012 season Fairbanks Concert Association brought a Christmas show by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy to Fairbanks on December 10. A swing revival band, BBVD features nine members, including electric guitar, piano, two trumpets, two saxophones, trombone, double bass and a full drum kit. Any dust left in the rafters of Hering Auditorium was definitely shaken out.

Legend has it that the band’s name comes from blues guitar great Albert Collins. But the band hales mostly from Southern California and not New Orleans. The band members have played together for 18 years, and it shows. One of the keys to swing music is to be absolutely tight, and these guys were. They clearly know each other, appear to enjoy each other’s company and have a lot of fun onstage.

The band played a nice mix of holiday songs, some traditional – “We Three Kings,” “Frosty the Snomwan” and “Blue Christmas” – and some decidedly non-traditional – “Last Night I Went Out with Santa Claus” and “Is Zat You Santa Claus?” But in addition to holiday songs, they did some traditional swing band songs, including Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Mocher” and an outstanding cover of “Go Daddy-O.”

They are all fine musicians, but WC wants to mention in particular Alto Sax player Karl Hunter and the terrific trumpeter Glen “The Kid” Marhevka. Some of the trumpet solos from “The Kid” were simply outstanding.

The rockabilly new swing movement probably isn’t for everyone. But WC couldn’t help wishing at a couple of points in the show that the late Art Buswell, an enthusiastic swing band fan, could have been there for the show. He was a connoisseur, and WC thinks he would have enjoyed BBVD very much.

Props to the Fairbanks Concert Association for breaking – shattering, really – the usual concert mold. BBVD is, WC thinks, one of the very few Super Bowl half time shows to play Fairbanks. A fun evening.

For more considered, eclectic insight, read Wickersham's Conscience.