Big Bad Voodoo Daddy has toured for 33 years, but the road never gets old for the swing and jump blues band.
The long‑running swing band, Ventura, California-bred, returns to Arizona soon—Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, and Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Fox Tucson Theatre. Drummer Kurt Sodergren described it as “a retrospective with surprises built in.”
The band has never been one for rigid planning. Sodergren laughs when he explains how the set list comes together:
“Scott [lead vocalist/guitarist Scotty Morris] makes up the set list when he shows up. He’ll look at what we played last time so we don’t do any repeats as much as possible.”
Their recent Seattle show leaned heavily into material from the late ’20s and early ’30s, much of it from the “Louie Louie Louie” record. Sodergren expects Arizona to get a similar mix. Alongside the classics, the band is also folding in new music that nods to their earliest influences.
“We’re trying to do small‑band stuff with a little traditional New Orleans feel,” he said. “Just a juke‑joint kind of thing, getting back to our roots.”
The new material also spotlights trumpet player Mitch Cooper, whose solos Sodergren called “a feature in themselves.”
One of the most striking things about Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is how the original lineup has remained.
“It’s all the same members — nobody’s left,” Sodergren said. “So, it’s just a big love fest on the road.”
They’re not touring with the same intensity they did in their 30s, but they still play more than 100 shows a year. The longevity, Sodergren said, comes from constantly approaching the music with fresh ears.
“I try and approach the songs as fresh as I can every time we go out. I’m just constantly honing my craft and trying to be better,” Sodergren said.
He practices daily, often with his Americana trio at home — a quieter, upright‑bass‑driven project that keeps his listening sharp and his dynamics flexible.
“I’m 62, so I’ve learned being peaceful is way more important at this point in our lives
“You never know what Scott’s going to pull out,” he said. “So, you just want to be ready.”
When he’s home, he surfs, walks the dog, practices for an hour or so, and spends time with his grown kids. And sometimes, he brings the music home — literally. Recently, his trio played a private show for his parents’ birthdays.
“They’ve been to some of the seediest punk clubs and then the Hollywood Bowl,” he says. “Now that they’re 90 and 89, they don’t go out. So, I thought, I should bring the music to them.”
Next year, the band plans to release a series of 45‑rpm singles — one each quarter — culminating in a full album at year’s end. They’re already playing one of the new songs on tour and will head out for their annual Christmas run after Thanksgiving.
“We have two Christmas records, so we’re usually gone until about Dec. 22,” he said. “It’s fun — playful, appropriate, traditional, all of it.”
