Malcolm “Dr. John” Rebennack flirted with jazz on occasion during his lifetime, most notably with his 1999 Duke Elegant album, a tribute to the late Duke Ellington. The Doctor even took home one jazz Grammy, in 1990, for his duet with Rickie Lee Jones on the standard “Makin’ Whoopee.” But those recordings were made with small groups; although he was fond of the genre, Rebennack never did get around to releasing a proper big-band set. As it turns out, he did, however, record one, in 1995. While in Europe, Dr. John teamed with the WDR Big Band, a Cologne, Germanybased ensemble known for their collaborations with a wide variety of visiting artists. It isn’t surprising that Rebennack sounds like a natural in this setting—from the start of his career, he strutted his versatility. Although he’d recorded standards in the past (the 1989 In a Sentimental Mood album, which led off with the Jones duet), for Big Band Voodoo Dr. John sticks largely to R&B favorites and original compositions. The band doesn’t have any trouble going to Dr. John’s special New Orleans place—there’s an instant camaraderie that yields thrilling results whether they venture into a ballad like “There Must Be a Better World Somewhere” (which Rebennack wrote with the late Doc Pomus), “I Know What I Got” or the standard “Blue Skies.”