Customer Reviews

Save My Soul

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The BBVD have produced another fantastic feel-good CD that gets you swinging in your living room. I confess, their self-titled "Big Bad Voodoo Daddy" CD is still my favorite, but this is a worthy successor to their previous CDs. This CD is fairly similar to the previous CDs, but it has a few more slower songs and experiments with a few different sounds to keep it interesting.
I just saw BBVD live for the first time and I now have a whole new appreciation for them. It was the best concert I've ever been to. There music is infectious on a recording, but when it is blasting all around with you, with audience members swing dancing in the audience, it is *amazing*. On top of that, to see these nine musicians performing so stunningly and passionately gives you a whole new appreciation to how much sweat, talent, and passion goes into creating their music.
I recommend this but I recommend their first CD even more, and I recommend their live concerts the most! After you see them live, you'll want to come back and buy all the CDs.

I possess all 3 LPs by the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy group, and undoubtedly "Save my Soul" is the absolute best of the musical trio. With blaring trumpets, a tickled piano, a pulsating bass, a sliding saxophone AND heart-stopping drums (among other things), the 10 tracks of the "Save my Soul" LP explode with as much wild color and exhuberence as a Mardi Gras parade! The members of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy have dramatically grown in their musical creativity: instead of assembling just swing songs, the group has absorbed and blended instrumental elements of Dixie, smooth jazz, rhythm & blues and even Ragtime. Much of the band's smoking inspiration originated from the deep south, particularly from the streets of New Orleans, with its alligator swamps, saloons and voodoo shops. "Save My Soul" has plenty of syncopated twists and turns for the listener: "Always Gonna Get Ya" is another slice of good ol' fashion 1930's swing; in a way it's quite similar to the song "You, Me & the Bottle." My favorite track is probably "Don't You Feel My Leg," a sensational lounge tune about a woman who wants nothing more than to be treated like a lady. "Oh Yeah's" melody reminds a little bit of Brian Setzer's "Stray Cat Strut," and "Simple Song's" piano melody might as well have been composed by the late Scott Joplin himself. And then, of course, "Save My Soul's" title track is an enthusiastic salute to New Orleans, nicknamed the river of mud. Get this album while you can, readers: this CD is a fun, sexy and joyful piece of work. :)

As a listener with an admitted positive bias, I was putting some huge expectations on this album. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy delivered.

Two songs stand out as sticking in my head, even though I haven't heard them in a few weeks...

- You Know You Wrong is a fast paced danceable tune that lodges itself in your ears within a few plays.

- Don't You Feel My Leg is a campy song where BBVD takes the woman's point of view. Maybe not a great visual image, but the audio makes you chuckle.

As expected, the entire CD features matchless musicianship from a band that has not lost touch with the music that made them popular.

If you felt that Big Bad Voodoo Daddy strayed with This Beautiful Life you will not be disappointed with Save My Soul.

The band has always had a little New Orleans influenced sound. Save My Soul is so heavily influenced by roots jazz, bluesy jazz, dixieland jazz that it is easier to pick out the songs that aren't.

My one, and only one, complaint is that "I like it" sounds way to much like "Mambo Swing" to even be counted as a different song. Other than that some highlights are: Simple Songs(which you can hear on Mp3.com), Don't you feel my leg (The Kid has a trumpet solo that is way too short, but in its brevity has a very Louis Armstrong feel), Always gonna get ya, Zig Zaggity Woop Woop, and the title track Save My Soul.

Ironically, it seems my favorite song is not the one they try to push (Last album, I wanna be like you, or this one You know you wrong).

It is only 12 dollars, so if you haven't already, pick up one of the past albums and take advantage of free shipping.

This is the band's best work to date. They have gone back to the old-school swing sounds as in their 1st CD <BBVD> and it suits them to a tee. This album has a ragtime, New Orleans feel to it and the boys sound better than ever. It's amazing how talented each and every one of them are. BBVD gained back the old swing sound they had almost lost on their previous CD <Beautiful Life>. I highly recommend this album to anyone who likes the old-time big band sound. And if you ever get the chance to see them live, they are one of the best acts I've ever had the pleasure of seeing perform onstage. (14 times and counting...) Not to mention some of the nicest, sweetest, most sincere people I've ever met.

Pick this one up - you won't be disappointed. And your parents will like it too :)

About a month ago, I stood out in the rain at Power Plant Live! in Baltimore for about 3 hours with my girlfriend, all alone, right next to the stage, just to hear the sounds and feel the energy that these cats deliver in the most up close and personal way possible. They came out and played like nothing I've seen before in Scotty's words, "As long as it was safe." I can't remember a night that was better spent. They played some jump swing, threw in a little mambo, payed homage to Jelly Roll, topped the Dirty Dozen (Don't you feel my leg), then threw in some Nirvana to top it off. The essence of all this? REAL MUSIC.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy managed to capture the energy that was present on that rainy night, and deliver much more, in releasing this CD. The tracks on this album are representative of their versatility, their passion, their humor, their talent, and their never-quenched desire to leave the listener tapping the sole of their shoe on the ground and nodding their heads on 2 and 4. I've heard all of their work, seen them live (and soon again in Annapolis), and have come to one conclusion. You will not find a finer contemporary effort in this genre. The boys are proud of this, and they should be.

They are really pushing "You know you wrong" and they should be. Scotty's vocals are solid, the horns are precise, we find out they have a trombone player (who knew? lol), and the overall feel is fantastic. "Don't you feel my leg" is another of the finer cuts. Having been weened on the the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, I was familiar with this song. While I just don't dig the intro as much as what the Dozen did, the song itself is a much greater effort; nice sax work from Karl on this one (as well as on "Always gonna get ya" and "Zig Zaggity Woop Woop part II"). BTW-The kid is the real deal on trumpet...really captured that King Oliver sound on some the tracks.

One could go on, but for the sake of brevity (and so I can get back to the CD...), buy this one. Buy a copy for a friend that appreciates music and musical history, and get the word out. THEY ARE BAD...PLAY VOODOO MUSIC...HAVE SHINY HORNS...A KICKIN' SENSE OF HUMOR...AND ENOUGH TALENT TO FILL PAM ANDERSON'S FAVORITE DRESS. GET THE WORD OUT...THEY ARE BACK; AND THIS IS THE FINEST EFFORT TO DATE. Kudos on this one fellas', see ya'll in MD!

I was pleased to see these guys experiment with a new sound. They'd already more than proved their ability to turn out flawless state-of-the-art swing. While this New Orleansesque sound may not appeal to swing purists, it's fun listening none the less. Even if this isn't your favorite CD, you have to respect how such an experimental album will help the band's sound grow and evolve. Give it a listen, it doesn't disappoint!

At this point BBVD is most likely the quintessential swing band of the 21st century. They continue to knock out one great CD after another. Their latest effort is packed with upbeat, rollickin', rockin', swing cuts that transport you right back to the 40's. To argue which of their CDs is best is like picking between Mantle, Mays, and Aaron. Suffice it to say that if you liked any of their earlier efforts, you'll love "Save My Soul." Each tune enables you to hear just how much the band enjoys making this music, and that's probably a large part of what makes them so successful. I likes what I thinks and I thinks this latest effort from BBVD rocks!

The only downfall with this cd is that it makes me want to go to New Orleans even more. What a great cd. They have really outdone themselves with this one. Buy it now, you won't be upset.

Never thought I would sit and just listen to one CD over and over again... but this is the ONE. If you like Big Band / Jazz / or any other type of music --- this is your CD. (but then I also enjoy BBVD's "This Beautiful Life" --- another "must have")