Despite what the name implies, the Hot Club of Cowtown is not Sacramento's hottest music venue. In fact, it's a jazz-influenced, Western Swing trio that formed in New York City's East Village.

Thursday night, the band will be performing for the first time in Sacramento at the 24th Street Theatre. The Poplollys, a local hillbilly country band, and Hard Clumpin' Litter, a local blues band, will open the show.

The Hot Club of Cowtown formed in 1998 when fiddle player Elana James responded to a Village Voice newspaper ad placed by guitarist Whit Smith. Upright bass player Bill Horton rounded out the trio, but was subsequently replaced by Jake Erwin.

James was born to a violinist mother and grew up in Kansas City around professional musicians. In college she grew fond of Western Swing and Hot Jazz, and she soon realized that her passion lay in music because it brings joy to people, she said.

The Hot Club of Cowtown was formed with the purpose of merely making music and having fun, James said.

"I've never been willing to put a lid on what the band has in store for it or what we're capable of," she said. "We went from busking for tips in San Diego at a park for a year to doing tours with Bob Dylan."

The band is named after Quintette du Hot Club de France, a jazz group featuring gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli. "Cowtown" refers to the state of mind of being Western, and the influence of Western Swing and fiddle bands on the group, James said.

Since forming, the band released six studio albums, a live album, a greatest hits collection and a DVD. About five years ago, the band got its biggest break when they were asked to join Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson on tour.

Dylan recognized James' talent and asked her to play with his band for several years beginning in 2005.

"One of the greatest things about touring with (Dylan's band) was hearing the material every night, and how incredibly expressive it can be when they've played those songs thousands and thousands of times," she said.

Hot Club's latest album, Wishful Thinking, 2009, is the band's first in five years, and the first with a drummer.

"The new album, Wishful Thinking, is one of their most polished efforts so far," said a recent London Times album review. "But to catch the Hot Club at full temperature, you really need to see the group in the flesh."

Doors open at 6 p.m., and the show begins at 7 p.m. at the 24th Street Theatre, 2991 24th Street. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at R5 Records and www.inticketing.com.

Photograph courtesy the Hot Club of Cowtown.