[Harp-L] Best SFBayharpers Session Yet!



Last night's third quarterly SFBayharpers Yahoo Group Jam at Armando's in Martinez, CA, was the best we've had, no question about it. Group members and the Hot House Band rocked the place!

We
held to our original format of allowing each jammer up to three tunes
(the special guests got a little more time) and that worked out well
time-wise, as we closed up shop a bit after 10 p.m. after a slightly
late start due to a late-arriving sound man.

Featured performers
Damien Masterson and Winslow Yerxa combined to give us a double treat,
playing both as a duo and solo. 

Damien's chromatic solo work on All of Me with
the House Band was definitely one of the top moments for me, as were Winslow's great playing on
traditional tunes, Danny White's harp and vocals with the band on One
Way Out and Paul Palizollo's great set near the end of the evening. Danny, who owns Good Stuff Guitar Shop in Martinez (Plug!) again gets a huge
 thank you for providing a back line of harp and guitar amps for the occasion.

Jammers including first-time attendees Charles Kratz from Berkeley with two traditional tunes and Michael St. James of San Rafael helped keep the audience fired up. Howard (whose last name I am afraid I didn't get, my apologies) turned in a great set, too.

Larry Marks (harp) and Greg Williams (12-string guitar) joined the house band
for an incredible set that included The Christmas Song and Born in Chicago and showed they were capable of following even Damien and Winslow. Greg later closed the
evening with a rendition on vocal and harp of his own tune "I'm a
Mountain Man." They once again set the standard for dedication by
driving all the way from Mount Shasta and then heading back right after the show.

Needless
to say, the backup work by the house players was exceptional, led by
the usual incendiary work of lead guitarist and vocalist Jim Caroompas
with Scott Myers on drums, Skip Townsend on six-string bass, and Jim
Brunelle of my own Awed Ducks on four-string bass guitar for the last two or three sets. Nice work, guys!

And
I'm biased, but Peter Sproul did yeoman's work on harp for the Awed
Ducks' set with Jim on bass and yours truly on vocals and banjolele. We did Jambalaya, She Belongs to Me and Titanic Blues. It was great to have Scott Myers with us on drums, we may have to find a full-time drummer!

Forgive me  if I've (no doubt, knowing my lagging brain) left anyone out. 

We'll
be having another SFBayharpers session in about three months. I'm
vowing to take my own turn on harp with the house band then. I was
fired up to play my harps last night, but with the late start and Awed Ducks already having played, I wanted
to get everyone else in first; before I knew it, the evening was
over. 

I'll keep you posted when we set a date for the next session, and if you are in the SF Bay Area, you should definitely make the trip
to Martinez, it's well worth it, as I think others will testify. And
before I forget, more thanks to Armando's owner Roy Jeans for such a
great venue!

Bob Loomis
SFBayharpers Moderator





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