Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/BigBadVoodooDaddy

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With the big football game this weekend, I thought it was only appropriate to feature a Ventura, California based swing revival band who played the 1999 Super Bowl halftime show ("Big Bad Voodoo Daddy"). 

Their name came from band leader Scotty Morris' meeting with blues great Albert Collins at his concert. Albert Collins signed Morris' poster "To Scotty, the big bad voodoo daddy."Morris said, "I thought it was the coolest name I ever heard on one of the coolest musical nights I ever had. So when it came time to name this band, I didn't really have a choice. I felt like it was handed down to me ("Big Bad Voodoo Daddy)." 

The band promoted their tribute to Cab Calloway called How Big Can You Get?: The Music of Cab Calloway, on Dancing With The Stars and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ("Big Bad Voodoo Daddy"). 

Similar to their contemporaries, The Brian Setzer Orchestra and The Squirrel Nut Zippers, their sound recalls the swing and jump blues of the 40s and 50s (i.e. Louis Prima, Cab Calloway, Glenn Miller) but adds in contemporary genres like ska and rockabilly. Swing Revival (also called neo-swing) was especially popular in the 1990s and early 2000s ("Swing Revival").

LINKS:
Perhaps their best known song, "Go Daddy Go": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehtEFCuBD_8

This one really swings!, Jumpin' Jack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEWuZ0QBvlo

"Why Me?": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKpVGKOa2xs

Tribute to Cab Calloway, "Minnie The Moocher": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5OpyFCBgWc

REFERENCES:
"Big Bad Voodoo Daddy." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bad_Voodoo_Daddy

"Swing revival." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_revival

9 Lazy 9

Photo: ninjatune.net

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This group was started by an artist who would become established in his own right, James Braddell (known to the world as Funki Porcini). In 1992, he wasn't calling himself Funki Porcini yet, his pseudonym at the time was Giacomo Braddellini, basically an Italian translation of his original name (last.fm). After meeting Keir Fraserello, 9 Lazy 9 was born. Based out of Italy, 9 Lazy 9's sound is described as a "smoky Mediterranean mix of vibes and good times. (ninjatune.net)" The group was one of the first to sign with the independent label, Ninja Tune, a label that would later sign Mr.Scruff, Bonobo and Jaga Jazzist just to name a few (Facebook). 9 Lazy 9 joined the label when it was "one grey metal cupboard in a run down London loft (ninjatune.net)."

LINKS:
"The Herb": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSjyNgQAc6w
"5 AM": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E88bB77yIY
This one has a bossa nova feel to it, "The Flying Nun": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj7bWvoBouM

REFERENCES:
"9 Lazy 9." last.fm. Retrieved from: http://www.last.fm/search?q=9+lazy+9
"9 Lazy 9/Artists/Ninja Tune." ninjatune.net 2015. Retrieved from: http://ninjatune.net/artist/9-lazy-9#.VMPr5mTF9LY
"Ninja Tune Official." (n.d.) Facebook. Retrieved January 24, 2015 from: 
https://www.facebook.com/ninjatuneofficial/info?tab=page_info

Gecko Turner

Gecko Turner
Photo: www.vivirextremadura.es

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His love of music began as a kid in the 70s when he discovered the greats like The Beatles and The Stones, it was The Stones that led him to him discovering blues greats like Muddy Waters and Big Joe Turner. By listening and playing along with the blues he learned to speak English. As a young adult, he would later grow to love jazz and hitched around Spain following Dizzy Gillespie's tour. When he was 20 he moved to London with a borrowed guitar, played locally and explored the jazz scene there. He would move back to Spain to take a job in a bank, but after his wife died of a long-term illness, Turner was back at music. It's always refreshing to hear Spanish artist Gecko Turner's playful yet laid back sound. Spanish music journalists call his sound 'Afromeño' which translated means Africa and Extremeño which is the region of Spain where Turner is from, but besides African and local influences, North American and Caribbean music are also integrated into his sound (Gecko Turner). 
Enjoy!


LINKS:
"Toda Mojata": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNwkXGeHE34
A Music Video that involves boxing, knitting, and more, "En la calle on the street": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atzD3y9FiD8
(Vocal Version) "Limon En La Cabeza": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYq2fYLNhqE


REFERENCES:
"Gecko Turner." AllMusic. Retrieved from: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/gecko-turner-mn0000860882

Movits!

Movits! spotlighted on The Colbert Report
Photo:http://thelaughbutton.com/

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They're a Swedish trio who got their name from a character in a poem by Swedish 18th-century poet Carl Michael Bellman. They performed and were interviewed by Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report in 2009.

After the show, Colbert mentioned that Movits' album Äppelknyckarjazz  had become popular on Amazon, he refers to this as the Colbert Bump. 

It's hip hop that swings!, Give Movits! a listen, let me know what you think in the comments section. Thanks for reading! 

LINKS:
Clip from The Colbert Report, gotta love Colbert's moves! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gf4eVVXTgM

As performed on The Colbert Report, "Fel Del Av Garden": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnaeImQ0TSg

Featuring Timbuktu, "Na Na Nah!" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkz8_d1rUIU

"Äppelknyckarjazz": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8fIVTH0TiM


REFERENCES:
"Movits!" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movits!

Erik Truffaz

Erik Truffaz
Photo: http://eriktruffaz.com/

He would make his musical debut at the age of 10 performing in his father's band. At 16, he discovered what many consider to be the definitive jazz album, Miles Davis, "Kind Of Blue." The album inspired the young man to pursue a career as a trumpeter ("Erik Truffaz," last.fm).

He studied at Switzerland's Geneva Conservatoire, and would form his first group, Orange (Soon his experimentation with contemporary genres would begin, as Truffaz explains in his life timeline on his Facebook page:

"Marcelo Giuliani and I are touring with Silent Majority, an instrumental rap music band with Nya and Pierre Audeta. I immerse myself in hip hop culture. That music is fascinating, the crowd enthusiastic (Facebook)."

In 1996, Truffaz's band became the first French band to be signed to Blue Note USA. Truffaz's music can vary from a jazz fusion sound, to a sound fusing hip hop, reggae, soul and contemporary jazz (Facebook)."

LINKS:
"Siegfried": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jZH-yn6q2E
"Let Me Go" feat. Sophie Hunger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPv9lH_23FU
"Yellow Daffodils" feat. Malia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JHxqxZE2d0&list=PLPdcsEK4w_QQIf_WFBbk6xKHpW2bGULbX

REFERENCES:
 "Erik Truffaz." (n.d.) Facebook. Retrieved January 2, 2015. from: https://www.facebook.com/eriktruffaz/info?tab=page_info


"Eric Truffaz." last.fm Retrieved from: http://www.last.fm/music/Erik+Truffaz