the spah jazz jam was Re: [Harp-L] RE: Harp-L Digest, Vol 36, Issue 43

["Chris Michalek" <chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Tom Stryker [mailto:tstryker@xxxxxxx]

>A number of things were wrong with the Jam.  
>1. The foremost was that the attendance was very poor.  It started at 9:30
>and that was while the ballroom show was going on.  I would be surprised if
>10 people attended.

Very poor planning on the part of SPAH. Both nights!


>2.  Lucky if there were six players in the room.   Of the six, the majority
>were heavy hitters on jazz which could be intimidating. 

This is not a bad thing.  I think the jazz jam should be treated more as a show then a jam session yet anybody should be able to sit in.

>3. Getting the players up to play was also an issue right from the beginning

Poor leadership? I don't know but when Randy Singer lead the jam this was not an issue.

>4.  The sound system had no attendee on the first night and it about killed
>you

again an issue with SPAH and not the attendees.  Realistically though, the PA should pretty much be "set it and forget it" as Ronco would say.

>5.  The second night, we were only allotted 45 minutes. It was also very
>poorly attended. At the morning management meeting, I expressed concerns
>about the lack of participation.  However, we all agree that it will
>continue.  


45 minutes is ridiculous!! and it was scheduled at the same time as the friday night ball room show.  Poor planning!!

>6.  The location was quite poor and it was not easy to find.  It should have
>been where people could not miss it. A lot needs to be done to bring it into
>focus.  

There were plenty of available rooms on the basement level. There were no signs and very few activities were held in the Stapelton room so why would be think to even check in that room.  Announcements could have been made etc... 

>
>
>>From the beginning, players were encouraged and invited to participate, but
>it was tough to get them up.  The opening announcement and subsequent
>announcements were "if you want a chorus our more, jump in and play." This
>included the diatonic guys.  Since there were so few people there, there was
>no limitation on the choruses the first night.  The second night with only
>45 minutes, a limit of one chorus one was put up.  Jelly and PT both
>attended and stayed for most of both sessions, although they not
>participate.  Their take on all of this would be interesting.


As a diatonic player, I felt like a 2nd class citizen in that room. Everybody in that room knew I was a jazz player and in fact the rhythm section remembered my playing from the previous SPAH convention that was in Denver several years before. I asked to how call a tune and you told me to wait because the band was going to play a couple of tunes then you would call me up.  Then when you called us up you said "Let's get the blues guy up here" Blues guys???  C'mon Tom, that's a pretty divisive statement. You might as well said let's get the fat asian guy and the jew up here to play a song. In an ideal situation it should have been "Hey George, why don't you call a tune?"  What I hoped to have been told was "feel free to jump up on anything you want..."  After we decided on the tune, you told me to keep the solos to one chorus and as the song is wrapping up you spoke into my ear to take the song home as if I didn't know the form of the tune. After the tune, you said you were going to get other players up to jam. Why were the blues guys not invited to stay or play another tune?

 >
>For the diatonic players that were there for the entire session," I am
>confident that they would say that they were quite welcome although we did
>not play blues.   Yes, some had to wait to play because there were previous
>commitments, but certainly no bias as I am a great supporter of all
>harmonicas and other instruments.  Jimmy brought in a college girl who
>specialized in jazz and did a vocal with us.



>
>Finally, Joe's remark about being lame is curious.  It may be because of the
>setting and the lack of participation.  The backup band was very good
>though.


I said the jam was lame and the back up band was NOT good. I offered SPAH my own band, my rhythm section is markedly better than those guys and they are more versitle. At the time I offered, players in my band have played with people like Randy Brecker, Stevie Wonder, Michael Breaker, Chick Corea, Robben Ford, John Pattitucci those are some of the legendary jazz cats in the world and all it would have cost was a "yes."  There was opportunity to make the jam quite unique but for some reason SPAH passed. This band would have played all night not for 45 minutes.

>
>Bottom line, the jam requires a lot of work and this year was quite
>disappointing.  It needs more participation and a better venue at the right
>time.  Next year, I will not run the session and welcome volunteers.  The
>goal will be to position it so it will meet everyone's expectations, be
>inclusive of all players and have good attendance.  My apologies for it not
>being what it should have been.  After all, to have players like Chris and
>George sit in is a treat.  


Thank you for recognizing that. I think the jam should be held over a cocktail hour or something.  There was a bar in the hotel and that space could have been used.  There are lots of ways to do this very easily.  Bringing in Randy Singer and a good back up band will help. Next year is in Wi, there is no reason why a guy like Jon Weber can't be hired to be part of a jazz jam.  He'll know all of the great chicago players.