Acoustic swing and gypsy jazz revivalists the Lucky 5 are all-in on Old World tropes and personae; but when they went to record an album, they faced the great temporal conundrum of the retro ruse: How old do you really wanna be, baby? Crude, Victrola-period production values are cool for sure, but usually just for a scratchy and stylized 15-second preamble to an indie-rock song, or what-have-you.
Consummate and chopsy players in this evergreen genre, the Lucky 5 found the middle path. They did not impose any period static, filtered vocals or platter warp the further to occlude themselves in time, but they did make a roomy-sounding live record with only a few mics in what sounds like a nice big room: natural, live, one-band as one-sound. Other than being a viable recording aesthetic for any all-acoustic ensemble, from bluegrass to serous chamber music, this sound also tests and proves a group’s performance prowess beyond a doubt.
Individually, these cats have played with acts as diverse as Peter Gabriel, Tony Bennett, Neko Case, Iris Dement and Bobby Previte. Together, they move effortlessly from lyrical, sad rhapsody to the Devil’s own swinging and stomping.
Catch the Lucky 5 at the Rosendale Café on Saturday, November 7 at 8 p.m. Admission costs $10. The Rosendale Café is located at 434 Main Street in Rosendale. For more information, call (845) 658-9048 or visit https://rosendalecafe.com.