Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers General Admission Dance

This jazz diva transports you back to the swing dance days of the 1940s and '50s with her sultry voice and stellar 8-piece band.

This rousing swing band boasts 20 years of jazz performances. Lavay Smith's sultry voice evokes the classic '30s and '40s jazz era, influenced by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Bessie Smith. Fans have compared her natural beauty and seductive sophistication to Bettie Page and Marilyn Monroe.

Smith has been a part of the California jazz community throughout her career. In 1988, she sang with the Los Angeles trio, Bogrumpus with pianist and arranger Chris Siebert. Smith and Siebert then relocated to San Francisco to form a band and by 1989, the Red Hot Skillet Lickers were heating up the local jazz venues. Their style is a medley of blues, salsa, jazz, and swing with musicians on a wide range of instruments, including drums, piano, bass, trombone, trumpet, tenor saxophone, and alto saxophone. The winning combination of Smith's passionate voice and her talented big band has resulted in mesmerizing, modern jazz and blues.

Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers have released two albums on Smith's own label, Fat Notes Records. The first release, One Hour Mama (1996), was critically acclaimed in The San Francisco Chronicle, Downbeat, Jazziz, and Blues Revue. Their most recent album, Everybody's Talkin' 'Bout Miss Thing! (2000), reached No. 10 on the Billboard jazz chart for 20 straight weeks. The album mixes American styles of bebop, swing, and New Orleans R&B on several jazz standards and six original tracks.

This jazz diva and her big band have performed at events such as the Chicago Jazz Festival, the San Francisco Blues Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Salt Lake City Jazz Festival. They also continue to play at top San Francisco nightclubs like Enrico's, Biscuits & Blues, and Café du Nord. The group has made television and radio appearances such as Fox TV's Fox Files, NPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge, and "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer."

Sensuous, yet sassy singer Smith has showcased her lush vocals and her big band to audiences worldwide. The group's arrangement, energy, and authentic sound make their performances a swinging time down memory lane.

-Tiffany Ashley Bryant