[Harp-L] Re: Masco PA Jam

[av1901@xxxxxxx]

A low volume blues jam..... now there's a great idea! Maybe some day I'll get to one :)
 
One of my lifetime musical highlights was an accoustic jam on a warm summer evening. It was a Tuesday accoustic jam (primarily bluegrass). After two circles formed inside, some of the better players including David Bromberg and Mike Davis (on guitars) went outside and began to play. I joined on harp. The cool thing was, a drummer with brushes grabbed a cardboard box and began to play, and a bass player with a washtub bass joined in. The volume was outstanding, as was the musical interplay.
 
During "regular" blues jams, it seems to me that the guitar player(s) are the culprits on the volume issue. Most of them lean towards showy & loud stuff. Its *rare* that jam guitar guys play like Junior Watson or Hollywood Fats - (although I was once at the Full Moon Saloon in Baltimore @ 5 years ago and David Earl called me up and played Little Walter songs for an hour with me).
 
Control the PA and control the guitar(s) and you'll control the jam volume pretty well (and get more upscale indoor gigs). 
 
Just my $.02
 
Andy Vincent