Re: [Harp-L] Running Jams (long)

[michael harp <diachrome@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

on 12/18/04 2:45 PM, samblancato at samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> This is a really interesting thread for me because I have been kicking
> around starting a jam here in Pittsburgh.  Since I don't have a band my self
> there wouldn't be a band to go through a set but there would be more time
> for jammers to play.  One of the thing that interests me is the idea of a
> sign-up board and using blocks of time instead of just having players come
> up in what ever order they show up.  I mean, if I attended a jam like this
> and saw who I was going to be up there with before hand I quickly find those
> guys and try to pull together what we would do before hand as in what
> song(s) we wanted to do, what keys, and maybe even how to handle each verse
> and how many go arounds we wanted, etc, etc.  Do the musicians ever do this
> kind of pre-stage planning at your jams?

I think a jam plays out more like an open mic when you have guys grouping
off in advance and picking their own time slots.

We have some pre-stage planning but we try to avoid having guys grouping off
in advance of me grouping the bands.  The jam was different in the early
days. We had 3 types of players. Good musicians that could play blues. Good
musicians that couldn't, and rookie musicians. Most of the players arrived
around 7pm to sign in. I could organize 3 or 4 sets in advance before the
1st set was over. Since most of us didn't know each other it was a fun
experiment in the beginning.

As time went on I started to notice the crap that Bret mentioned. Mostly ego
problems, volume issues and finding time so everyone can play. A lot of guys
only want to go on when the club is packed so they can maximize on the stage
exposure. The jam use to start at 7pm. Now it doesn't get rolling until
around 8:30pm. The bar is SRO around 9pm.

Since another guy and myself host the jam for a blues society we have to do
things differently then if we were hosting the jam for a bar owner. No one
has ever been banned from the jam but the jammers sure make it hard on me
when they refuse to play with certain people for whatever reason.

> Now, the thing is, I am a little more obsessive than other people when it
> comes to this sort of stuff.  I've often wanted to approach players at a jam
> and say something like 'next week when we play here let's do Shakin Hands
> With The Blues and start it on the five and finish at half tempo and when
> let's have the guitar lean heavily into my verse etc, etc.

You can give cues on stage but I found it best not to lock yourself into
playing any tune a certain way unless you play it with the same guys every
week or the other players know the tune based on the cover version you want
to play. I've jammed One Way Out, Crossroads, Stormy Monday, Thrill is Gone,
Born Under a Bad Sign, Born in Chicago  about 100 different ways over the
years. Some I've led, some I was the sideman.
 
> In fact, leaning on each other's solos is something I really like and think
> is important to making things really cook.  When I have tried to lean on
> another guy (mostly a singer) they don't seem to get it. The week before
> last I did this at a jam, leaning gently on the singer's verses on Little
> Brown Bird with shakes and long pulls  and he totally go it and even told me
> "hey, really nice lean on my singin'".  What I'm getting to here is that I
> would like to write and run off copies of jamming guidelines that could be
> placed on the tables for people to read. Is this too -- anal?


I used a large sheet of injet paper and made a Guideline poster that hangs
in the bar. I tell all new players to read the guidelines. If they have any
questions, see me. 

Leaning on a singer or soloist is different from soloing through their
performance. Some jammers jam the way they practice with cds. They play over
every part of the song from start to finish. They play like they are playing
to a cd.
 
> What about the idea of running a jam without a host band?

It may be difficult in the beginning. The hardest part is getting the bar
owner to allow the jam to grow before he decides karoke would bring in more
drinkers. You will need some friends volunteering to help fill out the
rhythm section or lead sets. Our jam started out as mostly an acoustic jam
the first 2 months. Drummers won't show unless you provide a kit. No one
wants to pack their kit just to play 3-4 tunes then end up leaving it up
there for others to bang.

 The first 2 years we used a donated snare, high hat, bass drum pedal and a
cardboard box for the bass drum. We mounted a cinder block and a SM57 mic
inside the box to mic the square bass drum.  After a couple of years of
passing around the jar we were able to buy a nice drum kit, pa and mics.
Musicians donated lights, amps and a Hammond C3 organ.  2 of the drummers
that played the bass box also own their own drum shops in town. We were able
to buy the drums wholesale from one of them.

 How did you
> promote the jam so that good musicians knew about it?

The jam started with the birth of the blues society in 1997. A local radio
station was promoting a weekly jam for several years with host bands every
week. It was from those musicians meeting weekly that the blues society and
jam formed.  Since the bar we host it at  is hidden on a dead end street it
was difficult for folks to find at first. Business was so slowwww  the owner
only had 1 beer pitcher in stock. Gigging musicians knew about the jam from
the start but some stayed away thinking it was "amateur night out."
It has grown to the point that even jazz players come to jam with the blues
players.

 How do you handle the
> idea of keeping it blues based?

Since blues has such a broad interpretation it best not to pigeonhole what
is blues based on your own viewpoint . We have blues purists, blues-rockers
and middle of the road blues players players. As the jam grows over time the
audience will determine what and who they like. It has a way of working
itself out.  People know what grooves and what's noise.

 What about discouraging certain things, like
> Mustang Sally?

 As much as I hate the song, it does get the female audience on the dance
floor. This in turn makes guys horny so they drink more liquor which makes
the bar owner happy and hires you next week.:-)

mike
in the other burg