Red Hot Skillet Lickers heat up IF

by Bonnie Barlow
Scroll Staff

The eight-piece ensemble plays “swing and jump” blues from the ‘30s and ‘40s. They back up the sultry vocals of LaVay with the songs of jazz greats Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Louis Jordan.

LaVay herself is described as a mix of Billy Holiday, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. The combined product is “hot,” according to the Idaho Falls Arts Council.

“[LaVay’s] got this sultry voice backed by one of the hottest bands on the west coast,” Carrie Getty, Executive Director of the IFAC, said.

The band touts such names as trumpeter Allen Smith, a 78-year-old jazz veteran who has played with Ellington, Benny Goodman, Fitzgerald, Nat “King” Cole and Frank Sinatra. A much younger Bill Ortiz has performed with Quincy Jones, Tito Puente, Boz Scaggs, and played on Santana’s award-winning “Supernatural.” Alto sax player Bill Stewart was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1999.

LaVay said she believes that the pairing of a great jazz band and the sauce of a woman up on stage is what her audience wants to see.

“Audiences love to hear women sing. Half of the people in the world are women, and the other half wants to be with them,” she said.

Next door to the Colonial Theatre, an exhibit of photographic works entitled “The Golden Age of Jazz” will be displayed in the Carr Gallery.

The show will feature the work of William Gottlieb, celebrated jazz photographer. His pieces include portraits of Ellington, Holiday, Louis Armstroung, Sinatra and Goodman.

The Gallery will hold an open house at 7 p.m. Admission to the exhibit is free, while tickets to the concert are $19. To purchase tickets, or for more information, call 522-0471.