Eight O’Five Jive – Swing Set
Red Ruby Too Tunes
11 tracks/36:33
Harking back to a bygone era several generations removed, the Nashville-based ensemble Eight O’Five Jive sounds right at home with a retro style full of cool rhythms designed to excite the dancers and humorous lyrics that address the various shades of love as viewed through an alcohol-induced sheen.
Vocalist Lee Shropshire has a smooth, mellow voice complimented by vintage dresses and cool spectacles. Her husband, Andy Scheinman, is the band’s guitarist. The other instrumental soloist is saxophonist Patrick Mosser while the swinging beats stem from the combined efforts of Bill Bois on bass and Duane Spencer on a Cocktail drum kit. The four musicians also add backing vocals as needed.
Several blasts from Mosser’s horn open the disc, then Shropshire delivers a smooth litany of her cocktails of choice with a special request on “Make Mine A Double”. On the closing track, ‘A Little Bit Of Bourbon,” she finds comfort in the warm glow generated by the whiskey, with Scheinman urging her on with a fleet-fingered solo. In between these bookends, the group runs through nine other songs that never fail to induce your feet to start tapping.
“Get Away” is a excited plea for a break from the stress of life, accented by Mosser’s brawny sax. The buoyant tempo on “Never” will certainly fill the dance floor every night while “One More Glass Of Wine” returns to the alcohol theme, with Shropshire breaking out her femme fatale attitude as she delivers a resounding kiss off to a man headed out of her life. Mosser chills the mood with a wispy solo that seems to come complete with late-night cigarette smoke. The mid-tempo glide and humorous lyrics on “Watch Out For The Wives” take some of the edge off Shropshire’s recitation of mistreatment at the hands of male deviants. She issues a no-doubt-about-it warning on the bluesy ‘Back of My Hand,” letting her man know she is nobody’s fool.
Throughout the disc, Mosser and Scheinman deliver short, concise solo statements, as they do on “Put It Back” while Shropshire delivers a captivating sermon on booze, neon lights, and enjoying life after the work day ends. “Ragged” finds Shropshire looking for a break from her man’s constant attention, reassuring him that her love is true. On “I Won’t Wear Flats (To Your Funeral),” her voice rides a jazzy rhythm while delivering a solemn promise to celebrate in style once her man leaves this world. The lone cover, “My Mumblin’ Baby,” is a rocking tribute to a tongue-tied man complete with Mosser’s obligatory sax solo and a fiery turn from Scheinman before the duo engage in a heated musical exchange.
The party never ends for Eight O’Five Jive. Even when things take a turn for the worse lyrically, the band keeps swinging their cares away with tight rhythms and a hep cat attitude that has no time for worrisome, downhearted blues. This one will be a guaranteed delight for for all the cool chicks and chucks!