Re: [Harp-L] SPAH Jazz Jams

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Winslow Yerxa wrote:
> Actually, there were informal jazz jams happeining as well. 

I think I already mentioned the great jam I witnessed with Phil 
Caltabellotta and Jim Lohman and Tom Styker and Pete Blasburg, 
joined by PT Gazell and Phil Duncan.  I also participated in a great 
pick up jam with Jimi Lee, Michael Peloquin and PT in the 
Suzuki/Seydel/Harp Depot store area.  Then there was the apres-blues-
jam jazz jam with Jimi Lee, Chris and George.  In fact, when I 
walked in the door on Wednesday, PT was holding court with Buckweed 
on acoustic bass; that absolutely rocked.  

While I don't think there's any shortage of pick-up jams, both jazz 
and blues, and that these are some of the best happenings at an 
event like this, I also think the more formal jams bring people 
together that might not otherwise know each other or experience each 
other's playing.  I'd love an opportunity to play with all these 
folks and more with a back up band and share the experience of 
playing and listening.  

In some ways, the blues jam is becoming the victim of its own 
success.  With the large number of players you either have to limit 
how long someone can play (like to 12 bars per song) or folks have 
to wait sometimes 20 or 30 minutes just to get a chance to play.  
You can go for two hours and only play four times.  But then we 
don't measure our pleasure by how often we get to show our stuff, do 
we?  There's plenty of great cats to listen to, and lots of love 
being shared, sometimes in a styrofoam cup.  

-tim