Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers

San Francisco’s Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers is a horn-driven swing and jump-blues ensemble led by vocalist Lavay Smith, drawing from 1940s and 1950s jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, and vintage dance music.

Artist details

Home base: San Francisco, California
Styles: Swing, Jump Blues, Rhythm and Blues, Vocal Jazz, New Orleans R&B
Instruments: Vocals, Trumpet, Saxophone, Trombone, Piano, Guitar, Bass, Drums
Band: Lavay Smith, vocals, with the Red Hot Skillet Lickers.

About

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers is a San Francisco swing and jump-blues band formed in 1989 by vocalist Lavay Smith and guitarist Chris Siebert. The ensemble developed during the Bay Area swing revival and has continued to draw on the sound of small big bands, combining horn arrangements, piano, guitar, bass, drums, and Smith’s blues-rooted vocal style. Its repertoire reaches across swing, jump blues, New Orleans rhythm and blues, early rock and roll, and jazz-informed popular song. The group’s recordings include One Hour Mama, Everybody’s Talkin’ ’Bout Miss Thing!, and The Night the Rhythm Didn’t Go Down, and it continues to perform in San Francisco clubs and jazz rooms.