Darrell Leonard & The LineUp

Sat, May 24

Darrell Leonard’s LineUp was born in the early 1980s out of a wild idea and a little encouragement. With things quiet on the work front, Leonard’s wife Lynde suggested he start a big band—not the standard swing kind, but something new: a horn-driven, rock-and-roll-flavored instrumental band with deep blues roots. Six months of writing led to basement rehearsals at the Los Angeles Musicians Union, where a chance visit from Leon Russell landed the band a new home—Russell’s Burbank studio. For nearly a year, the group rehearsed every Sunday, blasting through original charts and shaping what would become the distinct LineUp sound. The original ensemble was massive—four trumpets, four trombones, four saxes, rhythm section, and a whole lot of volume. It was ambitious, maybe even crazy, to keep a seventeen-piece band afloat with no gigs and no money. But the passion was there, and so was the talent. In 1981, with help from fellow band members Rick Braun, Jim Price, and Lon Price, the LineUp took the stage for the first time at the Blue Lagoon in Venice, CA. The sprung dance floor bounced, the horns hit hard, and the crowd was hooked. Over the next five years, the band gigged steadily across L.A., from The Blue Lagoon to Trancas in Malibu, even sharing the stage with legends like Joe Cocker and Jaco Pastorius. Darrell Leonard’s resume reads like a who’s who of American music. A Grammy and WC Handy Award-winning trumpet player and arranger, Leonard has played and written for Taj Mahal, B.B. King, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, Glenn Frey, and The Rolling Stones, among many others. But LineUp was always his creative playground—a space to experiment, stretch, and bring together the spirit of Bobby Bland and B.B. King’s blues orchestras with the swagger of Memphis soul, New Orleans R&B, and Texas shuffle bands. After a strong six-year run in the '80s, the LineUp went into hibernation—its charts packed away in boxes, and Leonard moving on to other high-profile gigs. Fast forward 35 years: a call from trombonist Ira Nepus reignited the flame. Leonard pulled the old parts from storage, cleaned them up, and reworked the book. The result? A sleeker, slightly smaller, but just as soulful LineUp—complete with a killer rhythm section, a deep bench of LA’s finest horn players, and a refined sound full of groove, grit, and joy. Today, Darrell Leonard’s LineUp is once again lighting up stages with a mix of reimagined classics and fresh originals—still rooted in the blues, still built on adrenaline and artistry, and now topped off with the powerhouse vocals of Grammy-nominated Teresa James. With a sound that spans the 20th and 21st centuries, the LineUp brings a big band experience like no other— joyful, danceable, and straight from the heart.