A GREAT LINEUP helps to kick off Left Coast Live season at the Landmark Ballroom in the San Jose Women’s Club on Friday night. Openers B Stars and Stompy Jones play two very different versions of swing—the former, hillbilly; the latter, R&B—while headliner Big Sandy puts his own Western stamp on the music. Rarely are bills that showcase Americana music so well put together. Unfortunately, the gene has become a loose-change dish for any kind of music with a twang to it, so it’s not uncommon to find a cowboy poet opening for a honky-tonk band, with a bluegrass band headlining. (OK, that is actually uncommon, but you get my point).
This show, however, shines a spotlight on three different facets of a poorly understood musical form. Also, how can anyone not like swing music? Seriously. Especially when its sung by a voice as sweet and pleasing to the ear as Big Sandy’s. The big guy’s no stranger to eclectic musical tastes—first making his mark as a straight-up rockabilly act, he later dabbled in blues, country, Cajun, mariachi and country boogie, but swing is his forte. With the show presented by Left Coast Live in advance of the festival next month, it’s an apt choice for an arts group that prides itself on booking outside the box. —Steve Palopoli
Friday, 8:30pm
Landmark Ballroom, San Jose
$17/$20
