This live-performance CD/DVD compilation should come with a warning-- the faint of heart may wish to avoid this no-holds-barred steam locomotive, since it is guaranteed to cause said organ to palpitate and skip several beats.
Purchase a ticket if you can handle a ride through gritty trumpets, smooth trombones, sparking snare drums, deep twangs of the cello and fast tickling of the ivories, all playfully intertwined with easy, sexy lyrics.
Steamy vocals from lead singer Scotty Morris round out the ensemble of seven talented musicians. From the intro piece, to The Boogie Bumper and Jumpin' Jack, the listener is transported back in time to the days of smoky war-time and post-war music clubs, when soldiers returned home and optimism was in the air.
The tropical sounds, including monkey calls, take center stage with I Wanna Be Just Like You (Jungle Book Song) where Morris belts out the reasons he wants to be like you.
Then he does a complete lyrical turn-around with You Know You Wrong and Big Time Operator.
Slowing down into the strutting song Minnie the Moocher, Morris croons about all of Minnie's vices.
The band pushes the limit with four more tracks of hopping, fast music spotlighting the individual talents of the band.
Morris eases down the locomotive of motion with Please Baby, a track that gets down and makes one feel as though they are cruising the streets in a big caddy on a starry summer night. Then Morris puts the pedal to the metal and the listener is back to a feverish frenzy with the remaining CD tracks.
The live DVD matches the CD lineup, with a visually phenomenal experience of positive, playful energy of the band in action.
For those unfamiliar with the band, Morris formed the BBVD with drummer Kurt Sodergren back in the early 1990s when most people were hooked on the grunge movement. The focus of their sound was and is solidly in the swing music of the 1940s and 1950s.
The band expanded, and fell into a rigorous touring schedule up and down the Pacific coast. Their break came with a spot in the movie Swingers (1996). They performed a couple of songs, but it was You and Me & The Bottle Makes 3 (Tonight) that sparked some air play on the radio.
BBVD has been touring consistently since, riding the wave that really began over a decade ago. Plan an excursion to see them perform in Seattle, Feb. 23 - 26, at Jazz Alley.
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