[Harp-L] Hyde Park Woodlawn tap Sunday jam

["Mick Zaklan" <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx>]

   I don't really go to jam sessions but I went to that one a couple of
years ago.  Wasn't sure it was still running.  Can't tell you how nice it
was, though.  I think it ran from 4:00pm to 8:00pm back then.  It was like
sitting in Chess studios fifty years ago and watching a session.  Low
volume, no bassist.  Just a couple of serious blues guitarists playing tasty
basslines and  comping behind the singer and soloist.  Drummer was Steve
Cushing, a real blues pro who you might know as the host of the Blues Before
Sunrise radio show.  There was a Japanese guitarist who was a serious
student of all the blues styles and a cat named Willie who had played with
the Legendary Blues Band at one time and was a mailman during the week.
These guys were tremendous players!  Guys you could tell were immersed in
the real shit.  Harpist was Dave Waldman; a guy who has fans like Kim Wilson
and Joe Filisko.  Dave would do a bunch of Little Walter tunes, which the
band played expertly.  His friend Tanya would sing some Muddy and Jimmy
Rogers.  Willie was probably the best singer there; occasionally he would
slip in a Hank Williams Sr. tune.
   There was no audience to speak of, just me.  Eventually Willie, the
Japanese kid, and Steve dropped out.  I stopped coming; it was a bit of a
drive for me.  It seemed to be more Dave's session than anyone else's.  I'm
not sure it was a jam, though I was invited to play a tune or two.  Kind of
a pro session of close friends.  I would highly recommend it; if only to
catch Dave Waldman play.  The Woodlawn Tap is very cool.  Imagine a
neighborhood bar populated by University of Chicago folks discussing the
White Sox, quantum physics, and world peace.  They make a very respectable
Polish sausage sandwich.  Don't get too lubricated, the roads are a little
squiggly and confusing on the way back to the expressway.  I wound up headed
the wrong way on a one way road one night with traffic rapidly approaching.
Had to jump the curb and make a u-turn.  Yikes!

Mick Zaklan