Jamming Sessions

[acidbass]

Hello all....

Well, I'm just back from a jamming session in my local, youngest person there by about 20 years and I played half the set with the house band! Nerves got me a bit at the start, but then I relaxed and enjoyed every moment of it. I tried my best despite knowing any of the songs that were played, and managed to bluff my way through a set of mostly 12 bar tunes. Felt really great playing with the other guys and definitely something I'd love to do again.

So anyway....

Any jammers here? I know back on BW a few mentioned jamming sessions being a bit cliqué-y - what's your local scene like?

Cheers for reading,

(a slightly intoxicated) Danny

[3V17C]

well i quite like the idea of jam sessions and would like to get back into going to some, but i don't know....the last few i've been to seemed a bit odd..... you'd just get an entire band get up and do a couple of songs, or four or five people who obviously knew each other and played together anyway getting up and doing stuff that is obviously rehearsed. to me, that isn't what a jam session is about....i want to get up with a bunch of people i've never played with before and just see what happens - yeah theres a good chance it'll fall apart but theres also a good chance you'll come up with something cool and different just from being in unknown circumstances and having to play on the fly.

theres a new jam night at a pub quite local to me on thursdays so may well head down there at some point and see whats what


peace

c

[bassjamm]

I went to a jazz jam last Weds, just to check it out and see what's what...ended up being the house bassist for the night, taking solos, doing it all...not very well mind Loved it though!!! That was near Milton Keynes, so about 90mins from me!!!

I also go to a jam night in Birmingham at the Adam & Eve, although, like 3V17C said, it's not strictly a get up a jam night, it's mainly a chance from different groups to get up and have fun, having said that, everyones more than welcome to get up with eachother, on the most part anyway, last time i was there we had some conga dudes and the drummer and i were jamming away with them, before you knew it there were vocals and guitar being thrown in...great stuff!!!

Jam nights are wicked though, great for meeting new musos, and a really wicked learning experience, can't beat that!!! It's just a shame that i have to travel so far to get a jam night!!!!

[RichardH]

[quote]well i quite like the idea of jam sessions and would like to get back into going to some, but i don't know....the last few i've been to seemed a bit odd..... you'd just get an entire band get up and do a couple of songs, or four or five people who obviously knew each other and played together anyway getting up and doing stuff that is obviously rehearsed.[/quote]
Yes, I've seen that self same thing happen - there's one jam night I've been to where it's become more of a chance for some bands to get up and do a couple of songs. I've since been to another one (very blues oriented) that is a lot more what one might hope a jam session is about. It's obvious there are a lot of regulars there, but they do mix it around. I went along without bass to see what it was like, and wished I'd taken the bass - there was a cricket match and a big fottball game on, so there weren't many people there - an ideal opportunity to step up for the first time.

Edited June 11, 2007 by RichardH

[Mikey D]

[quote name='bassjamm' post='15478' date='Jun 11 2007, 10:58 AM']I went to a jazz jam last Weds, just to check it out and see what's what...ended up being the house bassist for the night, taking solos, doing it all...not very well mind Loved it though!!! That was near Milton Keynes, so about 90mins from me!!![/quote]

I actually am from Mk, but based in Brum...where was the Jam? Is it a regular thing?

[bassjamm]

Hey man...it was in a village between MK and Buckingham...check out:

[url="http://www.indigojazz.co.uk"]www.indigojazz.co.uk[/url] there's info on there about the jam...also, at Black Cats in Northampton, every Tuesday there's supposed to be a wicked jazz jam!!!

[Happy Jack]

Strange to see this thread just now ... just last Thursday I went along to the jam night at The King's Head in Acton (West London) and ended up on stage for the first time ever.

The organiser, house band and regulars seem like a pretty good bunch and several went out of their way to make me welcome, but (as posted by others above) it wasn't so much a jam session as a series of blues and/or rock numbers performed by a series of semi-scratch bands.

Given my almost complete lack of experience, I'm not in a position to argue whether or not that's a good/bad thing.

And my [i]debut[/i]? Two guitarists (one of them a regular to try to hold things together), a drummer, plus me. I thought we were going to play some slow blues numbers ... erm ... not quite. We played three numbers, only one of which I'd ever heard before, two of them were up-tempo, and the guitarists seemed to be playing in different keys throughout - although I suppose that could have been me.

Won't stop me going back this Thursday, mind.

[Mikey D]

[quote name='bassjamm' post='15627' date='Jun 11 2007, 02:56 PM']Hey man...it was in a village between MK and Buckingham...check out:

[url="http://www.indigojazz.co.uk"]www.indigojazz.co.uk[/url] there's info on there about the jam...also, at Black Cats in Northampton, every Tuesday there's supposed to be a wicked jazz jam!!![/quote]

Cheers, I'll have to check them out when I am about MK.

[bassjamm]

[quote name='Mikey D' post='15707' date='Jun 11 2007, 04:33 PM']Cheers, I'll have to check them out when I am about MK.[/quote]

Yeah man, let me know when you're going to be about, i'll try and make it down there. There's one this Thursday in Woburn...let me know when there are any going on in Birmingham. I was rehearsing at Fatback Studios last night, they need air con badly man!!!

[martthebass]

I go to one at a local pub in town, sometimes good, sometimes not so but generally a good night to be had. Some pics to be seen on here www.thejamnight.com (I'm the thin dude with a Warwick or Sterling) I agree with the 'unrehe[Tiajuana br[Myleen Kl[Myleen Kl[Myleen Klass]]]]d' is best argument.

edit: why the hell did it put that Mylene Kl[Myleen Kl[Myleen Klass]] crap in my post?

edit 2. Oh I geddit...if I put @ss it changes it to Mylene Kl[Myleen Klass] - WTFF?

Edited June 11, 2007 by martthebass

[Gazm]

Well it was turning up at a local jam night that got me playing again after a loooong break.
Just had to get up and have a go, been every week bar one since.
Mostly it's good fun, but you do get the odd p[licking an posterior opening]a-donna git wrist there and also the thing with local bands playing a couple of tunes. Worst of all though, the bar tends to stay open until silly hours and I struggle to get up for work on Thursdays lol.

[funkysimon]

[quote name='RichardH' post='15486' date='Jun 11 2007, 11:03 AM']Yes, I've seen that self same thing happen - there's one jam night I've been to where it's become more of a chance for some bands to get up and do a couple of songs. I've since been to another one (very blues oriented) that is a lot more what one might hope a jam session is about. It's obvious there are a lot of regulars there, but they do mix it around. I went along without bass to see what it was like, and wished I'd taken the bass - there was a cricket match and a big fottball game on, so there weren't many people there - an ideal opportunity to step up for the first time.[/quote]

Yeah, that happened at a jam I went to a couple of weeks ago. It was good in that the people who were up who weren't part of the band got an instant structure that they could plug into, but then it's not really seat-of-the-pants stuff... maybe I'm just bitching coz I'd just left the stage after playing something which meandered around without doing anything interesting.

[martthebass]

[quote name='Gazm' post='15863' date='Jun 11 2007, 08:18 PM']Mostly it's good fun, but you do get the odd [u]p[licking an posterior opening]a-donna git [/u]wrist there and also the thing with local bands playing a couple of tunes. Worst of all though, the bar tends to stay open until silly hours and I struggle to get up for work on Thursdays lol.[/quote]

Is this weirdness only happening to my machine or has prima been converted into 'licking a posterior opening'

I'm afraid...........very afraid

[funkysimon]

[quote name='martthebass' post='15924' date='Jun 11 2007, 10:02 PM']Is this weirdness only happening to my machine or has prima been converted into 'licking a posterior opening'

I'm afraid...........very afraid[/quote]

errr... it's changing "[Sonny Jim]" for licking a posterior opening. I guess there's some sort of dumb-[Myleen Klass] censorship plugin getting a bit overzealous. S[flower of power]horpe!

Heh, I thought that might happen. I was referring to the town in Lincolnshire that's the scourge of email filters:
[url="http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.577117,-0.64476&spn=0.063294,0.170631&z=13&om=1"]http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=5...p;z=13&om=1[/url]

Edited June 11, 2007 by funkysimon

[mhuk]

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[skywalker]

[quote name='Gazm' post='15863' date='Jun 11 2007, 07:18 PM']Well it was turning up at a local jam night that got me playing again after a loooong break.
Just had to get up and have a go, been every week bar one since.
Mostly it's good fun, but you do get the odd p[licking an posterior opening]a-donna git wrist there and also the thing with local bands playing a couple of tunes. Worst of all though, the bar tends to stay open until silly hours and I struggle to get up for work on Thursdays lol.[/quote]

Hi Gazm

Was that at Woodville??

I went up last night to watch and observe, not to play, but was handed an old battered Stingray and asked if I knew Hey Joe. The intro was fine, unfortunately the guitarist then started to sing in several different keys, none of which we were playing in. He also had some kind of pedal board thingy that sustained his chords for ever, so there were no changes that we could hear, so I watched the drummer and he watched me and we made the changes in the right places (at least we were together, intentionally or not). After my Jazz the Stingray felt like playing a shovel (I am sure this can't be representative of all stingrays).

I will practice a couple of rock numbers (not normally my genre), and take my own gear next week.

See you there if you're going up

Steve

Edited December 6, 2007 by skywalker

[tombboy]

[quote name='bassjamm' post='15478' date='Jun 11 2007, 09:58 AM']I also go to a jam night in Birmingham at the Adam & Eve[/quote]

What a great little venue. Played there last month and loved it. Say hello to Katie for me.

[Gazm]

[quote name='skywalker' post='100413' date='Dec 6 2007, 06:07 PM']Hi Gazm

Was that at Woodville??

I went up last night to watch and observe, not to play, but was handed an old battered Stingray and asked if I knew Hey Joe. The intro was fine, unfortunately the guitarist then started to sing in several different keys, none of which we were playing in. He also had some kind of pedal board thingy that sustained his chords for ever, so there were no changes that we could hear, so I watched the drummer and he watched me and we made the changes in the right places (at least we were together, intentionally or not). After my Jazz the Stingray felt like playing a shovel (I am sure this can't be representative of all stingrays).

I will practice a couple of rock numbers (not normally my genre), and take my own gear next week.

See you there if you're going up

Steve[/quote]

Hi Steve, I'm talking about the Greyhound at Woodville so I guess it's the same one.

Shame I missed you. Last week, Rob the landlord said the jam nights were done for this year and as I'm in Wakefield at the moment on a course anyway, I didn't go. The battered stringray is a (horrible) copy and definitely [b]not[/b] one to judge genuine rays by I always take my own bass for that reason usually a MM Stingray strangely enough.

The guitarist sounds like Ryan, he's in his own little world most of the time. In the summer most weeks there were about four or five guitarers, two or three drummists and two or three bassists, singists always seem as a bit thin on the ground though. Over the last month or two there's been less and less people turning up. Last week I was the only bass player, there were two drummers and Ryan on guitar.

Sometimes after 11 there's an accoustic session which is good fun and usually a good laugh - but only when people turn up Trouble is, sometimes it goes on really late!!!

I wasn't going to turn up again this year but might if I can.

Pete.

[skywalker]

[quote name='Gazm' post='100682' date='Dec 7 2007, 09:16 AM']Hi Steve, I'm talking about the Greyhound at Woodville so I guess it's the same one.

Shame I missed you. Last week, Rob the landlord said the jam nights were done for this year and as I'm in Wakefield at the moment on a course anyway, I didn't go. The battered stringray is a (horrible) copy and definitely [b]not[/b] one to judge genuine rays by I always take my own bass for that reason usually a MM Stingray strangely enough.

The guitarist sounds like Ryan, he's in his own little world most of the time. In the summer most weeks there were about four or five guitarers, two or three drummists and two or three bassists, singists always seem as a bit thin on the ground though. Over the last month or two there's been less and less people turning up. Last week I was the only bass player, there were two drummers and Ryan on guitar.

Sometimes after 11 there's an accoustic session which is good fun and usually a good laugh - but only when people turn up Trouble is, sometimes it goes on really late!!!

I wasn't going to turn up again this year but might if I can.

Pete.[/quote]

Hi Pete

I will take a run up next week and take my gear, see if anybody turns up - see you there if you go.

You're right about Ryan, he was the one. I am not sure the electronic wizardry helps his playing. Sounds like mush to me most of the time.

Steve