Sidecar Social Club - Mystery Island (2018)

Tracklist
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01. Still the Sun
02. Sun Is High
03. The Parakeet
04. Go on Be Done with It
05. Mystery Island
06. In the Careful Quiet of Your Smile
07. I Don't Want to Talk
08. Professor Ferris Jones
09. The Vampire and the Sheriff
10. Isn't It Just Lucky
11. Wild Winds

Spirited, stylish and engaging, Sidecar Social Club is a shot of whiskey hitting your veins. Soaring through numerous genres effortlessly, their energetic sets take you to colorful and surprising places. From the gritty, riotous underbelly of speakeasy jazz to the bizarre cabarets of wartime Berlin. From the sounds of Latin American dance halls and the big band era to soulful R&B and fifties rock. With a number of infectious originals sprinkled in for good measure, SSC delivers a fresh take on songs, old and new.

From the main stage of Raleigh, NC's prestigious Artsplosure to annual performances in Dizzy Gillespie's hometown of Cheraw at the SC Jazz Festival, to points north, west, and east, the five member amalgam known as Sidecar Social Club has quickly developed a loyal and tenacious fan base. Regular monthly gigs at Raleigh's Humble Pie has given the band a chance to subtly hone their interpretations of tunes from the Great American Songbook. The repertoire is peppered with a growing number of originals and re­imagined contemporary fare by artists such as Cake, Wham, and Queens of the Stoneage. SSC’s shows are commonly standing­ room­ only affairs, and while the band frequently plays two to three nights back to back, the ever­ expanding catalog of vintage­-sounding jazz and R&B keeps fans guessing and dancers hopping.

Front­ woman chanteuse Lisa Veronica Wood fearlessly engages the crowd from start to finish with her singular sense of style. Hailing from Buffalo, NY, Wood's professional career began in Key West, Fl, singing with small groups (and occasionally a cappella). Before landing in Raleigh she plied her craft with bands in Toronto, Ontario, Cleveland, and LA. In late 2011 she approached keyboardist J. Clarence Crew, Jr. with the idea of starting a jazz group. While maintaining a busy schedule composing for film and TV, Crew made time, along with bassist/recordist Aaron Bittikofer, to began jamming and the trio quickly found a common interest in songs and themes from the prohibition­ era. Crew had spent the previous twenty ­odd years performing salsa, funk, and avant­-garde in concerts and at jazz festivals with a number of organizations, while Bittikofer toured with the highly­ regarded alternative band "Hipbone." The addition of saxophonist F.O. Finch, III and drummer Edward Theolandos Butler completed the lineup. Finch, brimming with funk, jazz, and big band credentials, contributes an intoxicating dose of New Orleans and blues­ inspired playing to the mix. Butler's eclectic musical odyssey of thirty­ plus years includes adventures in free­ jazz, world music, theater, and Americana. He masterfully lays down a fat groove layered with an evolving palette of percussive textures that keeps feet tapping and booties shaking. The chemistry among the quintet is palpable; they have a great time together on stage and treat each performance as though it were their first and last!