Wellness and Work-life Balance
The Granada Theatre was filled with the sound of Western Swing last Thursday night as UCSB Arts and Lectures hosted The Time Jumpers to charm the citizens of Santa Barbara with their smooth sound and low-key style.
The Granada Theatre was filled with the sound of Western Swing last Thursday night as UCSB Arts and Lectures hosted The Time Jumpers to charm the citizens of Santa Barbara with their smooth sound and low-key style.
The Time Jumpers started out as a group of musicians who loved the Western Swing sound of the 30s and 40s. Their journey has brought them from humble beginnings where, they joked, their 10-person band "used to outnumber the audience," to their current success âof entertaining large audiences from ââcoast-to-âcoast.
Vince Gill, the featured performer, also joked he was not new to California, having moved out here as a young man of 19 to "make it as a banjo player...not a very smart career move." He then serenaded the audience with the soulful ballad, "Faint of Heart."
Overall, the ban featured tenâ very accomplished musicians on a wide array of instruments-accordion/keys, a hollow body guitar, lap steel, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drum, upright bass, and three fiddlers-which gave their music a rich, full sound.
This kind of music is best when danced to, say in a rowdy old bar or on a grassy lawn. And while the Granada is beautiful theatre, it would have been nice if there was a place for people to dance to this music as it was intended.
Even so, it was a brilliant night of old-time music played well and with love.
Melissa Rapp contributed to this article.