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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Life Is A Game, 4 Nov 2004
Eagerly awaited by their many fans across the UK (and, indeed, the rest of the world), the latest album from the ever-touring Jive Aces is bound to satisfy their souls - and their soles!
Yep, it's another 'must have' CD for swing and jive dancers...Slam the CD into your deck and start kickin' things off with "Jive, Jive, Jive Aces", a nifty little up-tempo toe-tapper from the pen of 'Aces bass player Ken Smith.
"Start, Change and Stop", written by singer/trumpet player Ian Clarkson (thankfully not related to Jeremy!), reminds me a little of the Elvis song 'Rubberneckin', but only coz it's the same quality! Great up-tempo advice, and an infectious sax/handclap break to boot!
Things slow down a tad with "I've Got An Affinity for You", a somewhat 'older-fashioned' big band style tune written by Peter Howell (drums) and John Fordham (sax).
Next up, the 'Aces take a trip to the movies, with a stonkin' version of "Singing In The Rain" that fills the dancefloor every time - who needs Gene Kelly anyway!
Another nice up-tempo swinger comes next, in the form of "Second Chance To Fly". Ian wrote the lyrics, and John the music which features great piano and trumpet breaks.
Takin' the tempo down a peg or two, we find a slower swingin' croon-tune in "Long Distance Love Affair" which, as the title suggests, is a pean to long-distance love! John wrote the music for this, and Peters lyrics make you realise what it's like being 'on the road' for so musch of the time and far away from your loved ones.
Ian and John team up again for "High Energy Jive" which, to quote the well-known TV advert, "does exactly what it says on the tin" - another dancefloor winner, with great trumpet, boogie-woogie piano and wailin' sax!
How do you write a swingin' song that gets across the message that drug taking is seriously uncool? Well, Ian & John have managed the impossible with "Only Mugs Take Drugs". Yup, a 'message' song that really swings!
That's followed by "Clear Body, Clear Mind", a song written by Ian that's all about pollution - in mind & body, natch - and presented in a neat sort of 'marching band' style!
Most of you, if not ALL of you, will be far too young to remember the 2nd World War. That was the one that was supposed to be 'the war to end all wars' - yeah, right! Sorry, I digress. Apart from the outcome of that particular conflict, the only good thing you can say about it was that there was some amazingly uplifting music created, and this little ditty, which was originally sung by a dame called Vera Lynn (does anybody name their daughter 'Vera' these days? - I hiope not!) is performed in an up-tempo, quick-steppin' swing style. It works a treat!
"Three Cats Called Louis" - while he's wasn't bashing the skins, Peter wrote this clever tribute to Louis Jordan, Louis Prima and Louis Armstrong. As well as being a darned fine tune, it's dancefloor dynamite!
You wanna hear a real up-tempo, boogie-woogie piano workout? Of course you do! Check out the 'Aces version of "Sweet Georgia Brown". Knockout!
Eva Cassidy and Louis Armstrong both recorded versions of "What A Wonderful World", and here's The Jive Aces performing one of the all-time classic 'end-of-night' songs.
Finishing the CD is the title song, which comes from Ian's mighty pen. "Life Is A Game" is an great up-tempo tune with positive lyrics. All in all, another excellent piece of work from one of the worlds hardest working bands. If you've ever seen them live, you really MUST add this to your music collection.
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£7.98
