Dance Band’s Lively Beat Keeps Tempo With the ‘90s : Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is bringing back the sounds of swing.

For getting those swing dancers a-swinging, there’s no better band than Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. You could probably bring your parents and their parents too, without fear of being cut out of the will.

This band fell out of the ‘40s and somehow landed in the ‘90s. And they landed dancing. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the equally dance-crazed Spencer the Gardener will play Saturday night at the coolest venue in Ventura, the Midnight Hour.

BBVD has already developed quite a following, even among a breed of music lover long believed extinct, the sober club-goer. During a recent gig at Nicolby’s Upstairs Pool Hall & Night Club, the new venue with the long name (and no booze) in downtown Ventura, BBVD more than held their own against some serious local competition. Raging Arb & the Redheads were playing up the street and the Ska-Daddyz were playing down the street, and X was at the Ventura Theatre.

“I’d say that from about 9:30 until 12:30, the dance floor was packed with people between the ages of 18 and 40,� said guitarist and bandleader Scott Morris. “We were playing our ‘40s stuff and the crowd was sober, but still out of control.�

This is the second version of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the new and improved model. Only Morris and drummer Kurt Sodergren remain from the original lineup. The three new VooDudes include Dirk Shumaker on bass, Andy Rowley on that Chrysler-sized baritone sax, and Ralph Votrian is the trumpet player.

“I was just ready to go in a different direction with some new cats that were swingin’ dudes,� Morris said. “I met Ralph when he was playing in a Jimi Hendrix polka band. Andy was the horn player for the Chickletts; and Dirk is just the baddest swing bassist I’ve ever seen.

“We’ve been together for about six months. So far, we have a set of originals and a set of covers.�

The VooDudes don’t do anything remotely resembling the music on a college radio rock station--no grunge, no rap, no funk, no wild guitar solos. But swing? These guys seem too young for that stuff. Maybe they’ve been watching too much AMC. How could their collective watches have stopped before they were even born?

“We’re a psycho swing band,� Morris said. “Old swing music didn’t have an electric guitar, but ours does. Swing is just the stuff that’s inside me, stuff I heard from my parents. Louis Jordan, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington--I love that stuff. Swing music was the rock ‘n’ roll of its time.�

Morris, who by day is co-owner of a Port Hueneme surf shop, used to be a member of Durango 95. He’s gone from being just one of the guys to being The Man. He’s always been one of the area’s best guitarists.

“The difference between being in a band and leading a band is that I have a clear vision of what I want to do and what I want it to sound like. And I found guys that share that vision. Everyone’s equal.�

Everybody’s also well-dressed. While most bands dress in T-shirts and shorts, with a beer in one hand and a girl in the other, the Big Bad boys are sartorially splendid. They even wear ties, plus they leave them on no matter how steamy it gets.

“It’s just the whole entertainment thing,� Morris said.

Bill Locey, who writes regularly on rock ‘n’ roll, has survived the mosh pit and the local music scene for many years.