Big Bad Voodoo Daddy brings its swing sound to Bonita
He grew up a fan of punk rock, yet Kurt Sodergren as a kid often became drawn to the swinging sounds of his father's music.
His dad, Arnold, was especially fond of playing jazz legend Benny Goodman's classic 1950 record "The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert," the first-ever double album. And Sodergren's grandfather, Elmer, served during World War II in Europe playing saxophone in a swing band for troops.
It only made sense that Sodergren would end up as a percussionist with one of the greatest swing bands around, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. The Ventura, California-based group performs Sunday, April 9, at the Southwest Florida Performing Arts Center in Bonita Springs.
“It wasn’t my choice," Sodergren, 53, said in a telephone interview while hiking outside his Ventura home.
"I played a lot of different kinds of music. I enjoyed big band, it was one of my favorites. It was something I would pick up."
He said he began playing music because some of his friends in high school were in a band, "and it looked like a lot of fun."
"When their drummer decided to play bass, I rented drums and practiced for a month," Sodergren said. "After a month, I said, ‘I can join the band.’ "
He showed up for the first few gigs with a different-looking rented drum set each time. His bandmates found that odd and amusing, and he eventually bought his own set, he said.
He met Scotty Morris for the first time in the early 1980s, and the two began performing together around Southern California. The pair and another musician played Americana blues when Morris had a plan, Sodergren said.
“He got this idea to add horns and play swing. It was really him," he said of Morris creating the band's trademark sound and shiny suits.
"He wanted to give it a try and wanted to rev it up. We were pretty raucous in the beginning and not a very polished tone but it was really exciting.”
Sodergren recalled having to find a swing-drummer coach to help him because he didn't want anyone to replace him.
“I never really thought about playing swing because I didn’t have classical training," Sodergren explained.
It was the early '90s, the heyday of the grunge rock movement when the band started.
"We would show up at a venue — and this was the time of Nirvana — in suits and people would look at us like, ‘What is going on here.’ But we started playing and people loved it," he said.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy will reach its 25th anniversary in 2018, has performed throughout the world and has appeared in numerous films — in person and just the music — including the 1996 Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn comedy classic "Swingers."
The band's latest album, titled "Louie, Louie, Louie," drops June 16 and pays tribute to three jazz greats: Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan and Louis Prima.
Asked to describe Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's sound, Sodergren called it traditional New Orleans and swing jazz.
The band's concerts still feature the upbeat sound, slick suits and Morris singing and explaining the songs. Audience members generally have a hard time keeping their legs and feet still at their shows.
“It’s really a lot of fun," he said.
If you go
Where: Southwest Florida Performing Arts Center, 11515 Bonita Beach Road SE, No. 101
When: 8 p.m. Sunday, April 9
Cost: $54 orchestra, $48 VIP and $38 general admission (excluding fees and taxes)
Information: 239-389-6901 or swflpac.com