Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers

All the world’s a dance floor when Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers start to play. A bona fide San Francisco institution, Smith has been a YBGF favorite since the 20th century, when she and her Skillet Lickers played a central role in the swing music revival of the 1990s. Smith earned international renown with her dance-inducing West Coast jump blues, Kansas City swing, and Depression-era torch songs, delivered without a hint of nostalgia. While many of her peers on the swing bandwagon have long since jumped overboard, she’s still going strong with an ever-expanding book of blues-inflected arrangements. Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, and Patsy Cline are all liable to get cooked up into savory Skillet Licker dishes. Led by ace pianist and arranger Chris Siebert, the Skillet Lickers feature some of the best musicians on the scene, including trombonist Danny Armstrong and drummer Howard Wiley.