Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is made up of Dirk Shumaker, Glen Marhevka, Karl Hunter, Scotty Morris, Kurt Sodergren, Josh Levi and Andy Rowley.
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008 | midnight
The place for a swing jazz Christmas will be at Ovation in The Green Valley Ranch Resort.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy continues its winter tour with a concert at 8 p.m. Dec. 19.
The seven-member swing band will perform music from its 2004 holiday album "Everything You Want for Christmas" and some classics set to swing arrangements.
"The style of music fits well with Christmas and the holidays," said trumpet player Glen "The Kid" Marhevka. He spoke from Columbus, Ohio, where the group is touring. With all the snow on the East Coast, Marhevka said, he is ready to hit Las Vegas.
For these long-haul holiday tours, Marhevka listens to the soulful Christmas ballads of Harry Connick Jr., Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. If you're thinking ol' Blue Eyes and Dean-o are a bit cheesy, Marhevka agrees.
"That's why I think it's cool," said the 37-year-old musician, who has spent 13 years with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
He joined the band when it was gaining a large following in San Francisco in the mid-1990s. First formed by guitarist and leader Scotty Morris with Kurt Sodergren in 1989 as a three-piece swing band, it later gained members Dirk Shumaker and Andy Rowley.
The group sold out of its first album, self-produced by indie distributor Hep Cat in 1993. Morris brought in more of the brass, wind and the ivory keys with trumpeter Marhevka, Karl Hunter on saxophone and clarinet and pianist Josh Levy in 1995. A year later, the band hit the national scene in the Jon Favreau cult movie "The Swingers."
Although swing dancing isn't one of Marhevka's hobbies, he loves the music.
In the middle of the concert here, the band will play a few songs from its upcoming Cab Calloway tribute album, to be released in April.
Las Vegas is close to home. Marhevka will spend his Christmas with family in the Los Angeles area before returning to the road on Dec. 26 to play New Year's venues.
"It'll be nice to spend a warm Christmas at home," he said. Tickets cost $35 to $55. For information, call 547-5300. Green Valley Ranch Resort is at 2300 Paseo Verde Parkway.
Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or [email protected].
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