PDA

View Full Version : Great moments at jjms



Jim Kasperson
May-07-2008, 2:02pm
I am fairly new to this board I have heard quite a bit to dissuade me from attending a jam. I live in a pretty isolated place so a weekly jam is out of the question, but I may attend a festival or two sometime and at this point I need a little encouragement to try the jam thing. I do play with other musicians in a home setting and have played in bands over the years so I have experience in "playing with others". I would just like to hear of some of the stellar moments that some of you have experieced in jams.
Thanks,
Kasper

sgarrity
May-07-2008, 2:09pm
Having never played Pike County Breakdown before and getting through a break on it without falling all over myself. I was so happy I couldn't stop smiling. I learn a lot from tab and I can read standard notation, so being able to play a break by ear was a major break through. And a very satisfying moment.

Also, there is a group of us that get together here in the Va Beach area, many of whom are on the 'cafe. Getting together, having a few beer and some good food and pickin' some tunes....always puts a smile on my face!!

Jonathan Peck
May-07-2008, 2:13pm
Here's mine:

3) finally gets late enough that the tuba player decides to call it a night

2) cute folk singer type gets stopped in mid verse while playing some original tune that nobody knows, then totally wigs out. Bouncer comes to escort her out, then a table of single drunk guys come to her rescue and the entire establishment almost breaks out into a brawl.

1) those occasional 20 minutes when everything seems to come together all at the same time

MikeEdgerton
May-07-2008, 2:21pm
It was about 11:30 PM at a bluegrass festival in Woodstown, NJ last year. A fiddler and I sat out the last show and had been sitting playing tunes when the show ended and an absolutly great banjo picker joined us followed by a great Dobro player as well as one of my favorite bass players. Add a few great singers on guitar and we were in the middle of one of those magical jams that you don't see very often. We had a crowd about 20 deep in the campground and we played for about 3 more hours. I'll be honest, I was the weakest link in that jam instrument wise and loved every minute of it.

allenhopkins
May-07-2008, 2:38pm
Jams are great!!! #Just spent a weekend at the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA) in Massachusetts, jammed about six-eight hours each day, when I wasn't running or attending a workshop, eating or sleeping.

You have to have some {a} sensitivity, {b} self-confidence, and {c} talent/experience to get the most out of jamming. #Some jams may be over your head -- really experienced and able musicians -- and these can be intimidating. #At some jams I'm right in there, suggesting tunes and playing the melody; at others, I'm satisfied to sit or stand in the back row and play chords. #

As to "stellar experiences," it's hard to point to a few. #I have enjoyed informal music-making for 40 years, and some of my fond memories include staying up all night playing cowboy songs at Pinewoods Camp, playing Temperance Reel with Jay Ungar at a college festival in Buffalo in the early '70's, picking Dobro behind Cathy Fink at a little festival in Rochester, trading licks with Paul Prestopino's Strad-O-Lin whenever possible, sitting in with the huge Boston band Roaring Jelly at my 30th Harvard reunion, and playing with fiddlers from 12 years old to 70 at our annual Genesee Country Village Fiddlers' Fair. #I've hit Celtic seisuns, bluegrass jams, blues fests, old-time sessions, and thousands of sing-arounds, in western New York, New England, and elsewhere.

Jams are an unequalled opportunity to watch music being made up close, to share skills and repertoire with other musicians, and to pick up tunes and techniques without the formality of "lessons." #You need to be able to listen, to pick up cues, and to hold your own when you do decide to step "out front." #If you have a good set of ears, a decent level of consideration and etiquette, and a love for the music, you can learn a lot while enjoying yourself immensely.

farmerjones
May-07-2008, 2:48pm
The fastest four hours of my life were a Sunday afternoon spent in Mtn. View, AR. It all started with, "Heck yes, go get your fiddle." #

The ones that make you smile and shake your head, and smile and shake you head, all the way home and days later.

JeffD
May-07-2008, 3:11pm
I would much rather play with friends than play for friends. I would much rather jam than perform.

I have been part of a weekly OT (northern) jam here locally for 27 years. The folks have all become friends and some have even become neighbors. When I recently spent a bunch of time away from home, I joined two jams, a BG and an OT jam.

I traveled a bit in Scotland and Ireland, and took every opportunity to play in every session I could find.

There are three great moments to every particular jam.


If you are new to the jam, its the moment they invite you in.

The second also applies to a new jam, the first time they give you a break or otherwise acknowledge your playing.

And if you have been jamming with the same group of folks for awhile, its the moments when it all comes together, the music is right, the instrument is warm, you can't play a wrong note if you tried, and the whole group sounds excellent. It is a transcendent moment, infinitely long for the few minutes it actually lasts.

Many years ago our core group of jammers were camping together at a festival. Of course we were sitting around playing. Folks just walking by asking to join in (another of those wonderful moments that can happen). This one fellow shows up with what looks like a huge foot locker. He opens it up and pulls up what looks like a slightly smaller footlocker, and out of that another boxy foot locker. Turns out the whole contraption is a portable pump organ. OMG. It sounded fantastic. We played on and on into the night - with that organ just filling out our sound. We sounded glorious. Just amazing.

Its wonderful that we can have these experiences at all, much less that they are so affordable. There is no drug or drink that can match them. Its like getting unexpected kisses and affection from your significant other, or like laughing with friends so hard and long your ribs hurt, or catching a beautiful brook trout on an artificial fly you tied yourself.

mandoplyr70
May-07-2008, 3:45pm
I,m lucky that there are weekly weekend jams just 30 miles from me. I like to use these jams to try out new songs. I find this a good way to weed out songs ( well that one didnt work out to good ) Guys I play with are good about it. Lets you know what you can and shouldn,t do. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

Mike Snyder
May-07-2008, 8:21pm
Every once in a while, not often, a fiddler or picker that I really like and admire will give me a little nod and a smile after I play a break. That feeling is nearly indescribable for me. The flip side; again, a picker I really admire,really nice guy, was for some reason in a position to comment on my picking. He said "You've got a good mandolin." Bless him. It has taken me a long time to reach this level of mediocracy. Most jams are just tooo much fun. Come on to Winfield this Sept. and experience the biggest jam in the world.

Spencer
May-08-2008, 9:18am
As a beginner, I was in a jam at Bean Blossom, considerably over my head. Black Berry Blossom was being played, and I played the chords (incorrect) I had learn to the B part. When the song was over, Louie Popejoy, a fine musician, told me in a nice way that what the correct chords were. I started to apologize, and he just smiled and said "That's why we have jams." I always remembered that, and the positive way he encouraged me to keep going, instead of looking down his nose at me. I try to remember that when playing those who are just starting.

Spencer

Joe F
May-08-2008, 9:58am
When a jam clicks, there is little that can compare with the experience. #I go to three old-time jams every week, and through that I've made a lot of new friends, developed the ability to pick up new tunes by ear, and my playing has even improved a bit. #But there are also those moments when the jam hits a groove, and every player feeds off the energy of the others. #At those times I stare at my fingers in amazement, watching and listening to them do things I know I'm not good enough to do.

Every regular jam has its good days and bad days, but even on the bad days, if there are just one or two tunes where that kind of magic happens, it's well worth the time and energy to go there.

bienkow1
May-08-2008, 10:19am
"Its wonderful that we can have these experiences at all, much less that they are so affordable. There is no drug or drink that can match them. Its like getting unexpected kisses and affection from your significant other, or like laughing with friends so hard and long your ribs hurt, or catching a beautiful brook trout on an artificial fly you tied yourself."
This is why I love this board...so many like-minded individual's. Jeff, wonderfully put.

Gutbucket
May-08-2008, 11:54am
The after jam jams can be sweet. Picking all night till breakfast is fun. Watching a newbie get the drift of a fiddle tune can be a magical moment. The nod of approval from a famous picker on your break is unforgetable. Watching the reaction of some one who isn't familiar with Bluegrass or fiddle tunes getting into the music is great. Lots of little things make it worth while for me.

Matt the Mead Maker
May-08-2008, 1:54pm
We've got a weekly bluegrass jam here in Pendleton, Oregon. The best parts are making new friends, hanging out with old friends and learning from the better musicians. I've never had any of the negative experiences I've read about here at the Cafe. Maybe that's just small town living but in my experience, bluegrass musicians tend to be really friendly and welcoming folks.