[Harp-L] Do Blues Jams turn the public off?

[David Fertig <drfertig@xxxxxxxxx>]

Nonsense.   If someone says they went to a jam and heard their first blues, well, 
they're either lying or ignorant, or from far out of the range of US and
 western media.

And if they say they went to a blues jam, heard their 
first blues, and were turned off by the amateurish efforts of some player(s)
 and decided blues was no fun, well, they're liars AND ignorant. And 
they'll probably never get the blues anway, so forget 'em.  There's a 
line-dance down the street.


This issue is close to my heart.  Some blues jams are for hot shots (and wannabes) to show off, head cut and shine.   Some blues jams are for complete newbies to get their sea legs.   Some are both, and all blues jams draw members of both ends of the spectrum, music skill-wise and ego-wise. 

If you run an open amateurs-included jam right, it can make good use of both of these ends of the skill spectrum .  A jam host needs to ride the players to keep the music going, to share, listen, use dynamics, change up music styles, keep the volume down and support the other players on the stage.  The moment either of these issues fails the host needs to be in place to try to help things along.  NO, it can't always be saved at the moment, so pick up the pieces quickly and resume asap. 

AND it's the host's job to make sure the audience understands what's going on: we're bringing people together who've mostly never played together before, and some are complete amateurs so let's support them!  etc etc ., and enlist the audience in the enthusiasm of support.   In my experience as a jam host,  good people appreciate the effort and good pros appreciate it, too.  So, nobody's surprised when a player wrecks the train, or makes some big gaffes,and the other players can work past it and show some good music despite the occasional problems.

And if people actually play some sincere, fun, git-down blues, all will feel good about it, even if they still laugh at some of the failed efforts.
 
-Dave "give the drummer some brushes" Fertig

--- On Thu, 10/13/11, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx <harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Re: [Harp-L] re: Do Blues Jams turn the public off?
        	Thursday, October 13, 2011 6:26 AM
        	
            
            
            From:"The Iceman" <icemanle@xxxxxxx>
            	
            	
            	
        	To:wbharptime2@xxxxxxxxx, harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx

wise words in theory. very seldom seen in reality.



-----Original Message-----
From: W B <wbharptime2@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed, Oct 12, 2011 8:58 pm
Subject: [Harp-L] re: Do Blues Jams turn the public off?


Well run blues jams are a great thing!  You mentioned a couple of important
points that need to be addressed square one.  The person running the jam has
the responsibility of playing traffic cop first and musician second.  Rules
must be established and enforced by the traffic cop: if you want to get on
stage be ready and be tuned up,  Ideally there is a clipboard/sign-up sheet
that helps create "game plans" before hitting the stage.  The kiss of death
for an audience is the "whadda you wanna play",  the sound or lack of sound
during repeated tuning processes and "another slow blues in E"  The traffic
cop needs to keep ego's in check.  Open jams need to be just that, OPEN.
Pro's/gigging players should be happy with one tune (or less) to show their
"A game" and then try to be GOOD HUMAN BEINGS and use their talents to
encourage less experienced players to get up there and have some fun.  Maybe
offer to help back them up.  The number one killer of open blues jams that I
have experienced is EGO MANIACISM.  The blues is a conversation and
everybody on stage needs to be a part of it NO MATTER WHAT THEIR PLAYING
LEVEL.  The sign-up process needs to be fair so "blues apprentices" don't
get shoved aside until midnight after all the "big shots" shot their wads.
The traffic cops main job is to keep things moving and as entertaining as
possible for the audience.  This means "managing the expectations" of the
players as they sign up.  Ego's need to be checked and
inexperienced/potentially poor players need to know that stage time is all
about entertaining "musical conversation". If they can't cut the mustard in
a reasonable fashion they may only get only one song (or less!) and thats
it.  This is a public establishment with paying patrons. It's not about
cracking a whip and being a control freak it's about everybody in the room
sharing the musical journey.  Public jams are for players and
listeners.   ABOVE ALL: Traffic cop needs to be a "volume knob natzi" When
the volume is out of control, nobody has any fun except a chosen few.

WB