comments

Q - What do a drum solo and premature ejaculation have in common?
A - You know it's coming and there's nothing you can do about it.

Decibels
We had a visit from the P.A. police after complaints from a neighbour about the noise. I assume she/he was concerned about the volume level rather than the standard of playing. I understand that they are going to re-visit the K. H. with a noise meter, with a view to re-calibrating the system. If there is any justice, this would be in our favour as I believe it’s not been checked since the double/ secondary glazing was installed. I am fearful of their findings, however, as I’m sure that there are some people living in London who wish for the quiet of the countryside. We didn’t do ourselves any favours by playing so loud that the system tripped out on one occasion, did we? Can we please respect what we’ve got here, and work within the limits of the environment we are in. If you turn up the amps we lose the PA. And eventually we will lose the venue.
Andy

DEAR GLOBAL JAM.

We all know the smoking bans coming soon and for many that is good thing, and for others just another nail in the coffin of democracy and personal freedom. For what it's worth, my own opinion is that in some ways it’s a bit of a shame and or sham. I have never smoked, but equally I have never had a problem with people who do. If you go to a Blues or Jazz club it's what you expect, almost. Sometimes, without the ventilation that we are denied in the club for sound environmental reasons (the noise), it can get a bit too much and it feels like your playing in a fog.
That said, though, I would seriously be upset if we lost some of our regulars due to the fact that they could no longer have a smoke. I am talking about some great talent here and also people who have become friends. The Fullers chain has said that they will do everything possible to accommodate the smoking fraternity and I am not sure how this will work but it may be worth making some enquiries at the bar as to how they intend to implement this. The other side, of course, is that we may be able to pick up some new punters who have previously been put off coming due to the smoky atmosphere. Somehow though, I can't imagine this Jam without the likes of Jovan, Mr. Rich, Des, etc, or even some of the regular non-players who like a puff. Heres hoping that it all works out and that the best night out in West London keeps Rockin' and Rollin' along. This is my second home, I don't want to see it go up in a puff of smoke, or not, you get my drift. - Remember, soon you won't even be allowed to laugh,- they've banned smacking and smoking, next it will be smirking. (That gag, from the great Milton Jones).
Cheers and be seeing you .........Neil.

The Forum
Apologies to anyone who checked out the forum recently and found a posting from some one who had nothing better to do than publish a brief but sexually explicit article. Fortunately, I saw it within a day of it being posted and I deleted it. However, I don’t always have time to deal with this kind of nonsense. I have to consider that many people reading it would be offended, and that it is not what globaljam.biz is about. The forum was conceived to enable all you good people who have an interest in jamming, the Kings Head, music etc to talk to each other, not for it to be highjacked by idiots. This is just one instance (of a growing number) where I have had to take action. I have also monitored the growing list of members of the forum and, looking at their membership details, I suspect that the majority of the new additions have joined for reasons other than those already stated. They may be trying to sell something, or it may be political, etc, either way, its not suitable for this site. No doubt there are ways to eliminate these kinds of problems with a forum. I’d rather not have to deal with it though. I have therefore decided to scrap the forum. Aint that sad.
Andy

Can we make this jam night twice or three times a week...7 days too long time for me to wait..

Hello everybody, just wanted to mention what a kick ass JAM we had last week, and mainly in the last hour when most people had scarpered! The crew in the far back were determined to enjoy themselves and were shaking all over the place, and when the band started to play some uptempo blues and rock and roll, they just couldn\'t contain themselves anymore and lept to their feet and danced the rest of the night away. This really encouraged the musicians to play some amazing stuff and at one point we even managed to fit an extra guitarist (Graham) up on stage as well, so you can imagine!, let\'s have more of the same next week please!!
Otherwise a very nice feel to the night, with people playing their best, this has been Captain Guitar for the house band, sighning off.

Dear global jam
With winter appraoching,how stimulating it is to find youself in a room full of smoke,sweat and noise , friendly faces and a nice pint.What better way to is there to spend an evening than showing your friends that if it wasn\'t for bad breaks you too could have been a global superstar.Well, big in west London at least. Nothing, at the moment could keep me away from the Kings Head on Thursday apart from a restraining order.To all you guys, (and gals)who make this a great night every week and tolerate my erratic playing,(forgetting intros,outros, and middle bits for instance)I thank you. As a reply to Boyann - Music aint music unless its screwed up twice before we get it right.
Neil

what can i say ive never really tried to play covers before i prefer to be creative and not being able to play much due to having my son born and comming back exausted for a jam session its certainly warming me back up at a slow pace but to the ones who appreciate my guitar playing even if their not into heavy metal i would like to say a big thankyou to you guys for holding the sessions together for so long as its putting the warmth and admiration of having the front to get up and play........that takes balls more than anything see you soon for the next jam and frustrations and i will try not to break anymore strings as this seems to be my new hobbie especially when breaking into guitar solos.........aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
phil

It can`t be put into words how much JAMMING with various guys makes me feel alive, happy, lucky & privileged. I met my soulmates in a few jamming dens of which The Best was THE RAYNERS in Rayners Lane - R.I.P. - and now KINGS HEAD in Acton is The One And Only in the whole London Towne. Bestest Of The Best. Remember: IT AIN`T MUSIC IF IT AIN`T JAMMED FIRST! Rock on, Dudes & Dudettes! ~ Boyann

I went to another jam last weekend, it was interesting to see how they run it. The pub itself is a well known music venue with photos of The Stones and The Yardbirds etc. on the walls. A place with a bit of history you could say. The sound, out front, was pretty good. On the tiny stage the sound was err difficult. The small guitar combos had not been raised up off the stage floor, so the sound was leaving the stage at knee level. I don’t know about you but I need to hear what’s coming out of the amps so that I can play something listenable. Sure, I can put my fingers in the right place and be fairly confident/hopeful that I’m making some sort of music, but I hate that detached feeling. It’s like the audience knows something that I don’t. Worse still, if I can’t hear myself, then I sure as hell can’t hear the other guitarist properly. Not good in a jamming situation. It was not a case of bad volume levels, it was more to do with how the sound was being projected from the stage. With a small valve combo with a single 12” speaker you can get the right volume with the desired amount of natural distortion. What you don’t get is a decent spread of sound. Takes me back to my early playing days when I used to play through a 4X12” cab, sometimes two of them. The amp might only have been turned up to three, but you could hear it from anywhere in the room.
It always amazes me, the standard of playing from some of the younger guitarists. Confident and fluid with a certain style too. We never played like that at that age. Or did we. I couldn’t help noticing the number of Fender Strats taking the stage. There were a couple of other guitars one was an Epiphone 335 the other was a Tele and of course my own unique guitar. But the strat rules in this place, no question. As does the choice or style of music. What would we do without Stevie Ray Vaughan r.i.p. and Robben Ford.

29 ;05;07
There’s something about the jam that has been bothering me. I don’t lie awake thinking about it, but it’s still a question that I have not found an absolute answer to. I think it first started to bug me when, one jam night, some one asked me to change the players on stage, because “it’s all a bit self-indulgent”. This person was not a player, he was a ‘punter’. He had paid his two quid and wanted some entertainment (Van Morrison or some such banality) with his late night drinking. I have to admit, that at the time, I had never really considered the jam to be anything other than for the jammers, and if it happened to be entertaining, well, that was just a coincidence. It also got me thinking, what is jamming anyway? You see, I have always believed that proper jamming should be a spontaneous event. Someone starts off with an idea and the others join in and develop it. You put a bunch of musos on the stage and see what happens. Sometimes it’s really good, thought provoking stuff. Often it’s a shambles but hey it’s a jam after all. In reality, what happens is, someone will suggest a song and it gets played according to how well the players know the song. In this scenario, the person who is singing is king. He is the one pouring his heart and soul out to the room. It’s a precarious time for him because he is at the mercy of the other guys on stage, so the band better know their stuff, or else. No wonder then, that songs get worked out before hand. Any newbie’s with nouse will soon cotton on and quickly get to grips with favourites like The Thrill Is Gone, Black Magic Woman, Sweet Home Chicago, etc. No one wants to look stupid, (although I frequently do, having refused to learn Little Wing, a brilliant song that I just had too much of, years ago. Anyway it’s such a favourite with all the younger dudes it leads me to believe it must be on the current year 10 curriculum). Anyway, where was I, oh yes, my solution to that, is to ban all vocals, yep singing should be outlawed. Take singing out of the equation and that would open it up to… endless noodling, the dreaded drum solo and the preposterous lead bass guitar. Were you there when we tried the rolling subs jam? It was great. We started with one set of players and one by one changed the whole lot while keeping the music going. That’s the way to make one tune last 45 minutes. Still not giving the ‘audience’ any real consideration though. Ok, we’ll bring back the singing, but anyone attempting to emulate Van the Man should be made to wear a dodgy jump suit, (see below) a la The Last Waltz.
I think the pub’s landlord/brewery is quite happy so long as there are people there spending money, and that they don’t mind what kind of music is going on. I think the punters are happy if they are being entertained and can maybe dance a bit to recognisable songs. I think we can split the jammers into two main groups, 1: Those that want to play stuff that they are familiar with. I suspect that they are the majority. And, 2: Those that want to experiment a bit more, into the unknown. Warning: experience tells us that free jazz will empty the room faster than any other music. So what do I conclude from all that? Well, I say, that playing well-known tunes is perfectly acceptable and great fun, so long as everyone understands, that getting it 100%, as per original record, is not what is desired from a jam session and that it is not really in the spirit of a jam to get up there fully rehearsed. When it is done well, the by-product is entertainment, and those jammers seeking praise and adulation will gravitate towards crowd pleasing material and put on a bit of a show. Ok, I am being harsh, after all, we all get up and play before an audience on jam night. Some of us may use jam night as a way of dealing with other issues. We won’t go into that here though. Does anyone know a good psychoanalyst?
And so it goes, around and round in circles. Right then doc what was the question?
Andy
Correction! It was not a jump suit, it was a maroon sequined number.

Some very interesting and thought provoking stuff there from Andy.
Hmmmm, where do you begin? Well first off, there's no doubt about it, Van the Man in The Last Waltz has got to be one of the most shocking sites I have ever seen, those clothes, that high kick! Awesome.

On the jamming front, I have to take a stand for the Sensible Party.
I have been to one or two 'free jazz' blowouts over the years and they have always reminded me of the Jazz critic in the Fast Show. "Hmm, Nice!"
As the trumpeter, Turnham Green, said in one of the sketches, "I don't just blow, I suck."
They can be pretty turgid affairs, for the band as well as the audience. Truth is, is that good jamming comes from players who have played with each other for a real long time, and I mean a really long time. The intuition that some of the jammers have for listening and reacting to their fellow musicians is definitely there but it tends to show it's self in brief flashes.
I'm not talking about playing a good solo, thankfully that frequently happens, the Kings Head jam is blessed with more then its fair share of very good musicians.
No, I am thinking about real jamming, no scripts, no cues, very little restraint. Thats very hard to put into practice.
We have all seen some of the musicians on stage take flight and its terrific when it happens, its what I always aim for, the moment where you all manage to be playing the same tune but all doing your own thing in complete harmony with every one else. This can last anywhere from 5 seconds to a minute, (hang on, am I talking about my love life here?) but rarely more in our circumstances.

The great jam bands, Grateful Dead, Allmans, Cream, James Brown, Miles, Depeche Mode, Little Feat etc. . . all had extraordinarily high calibre musicians, drummers and bassists who were willing to keep the groove and years and years of road practice.
I think it’s a bit of a tall order to try and get that to happen on a Thursday night in Acton. Probably better to stick to some templates that work and see if you can find some wiggle room in there.

Now, elongated, plank spanking, self-indulgent, audience numbing, note pulverizing, sense shredding, whammy busting, atonal, groin thrusting, time wasting solos. Thats another matter.
Don't get me started!
Yours 'With a song in my heart' sincerely
Graham 'Turn Me Up' Goldwater

Sir

I have read your comments page with interest regarding the opinion over whether Jamming is an entertainment or an indulgence. I remember my days in the Lacock Brass Band as third Trumpet, and our experiences on the local Brass Band improvisation circuit around the Wiltshire area circa 1957 - 61.
In those impossibly far off days we never used to charge for entrance to the public houses and village halls around the Lacock, Notton and Reybridge regions, in which we used to hold our monthly improvs or freestyle band sessions as we called them, (They were not called Jams on the B/B scene, this was a Jazz term). In our innocent view of the world we considered that charging for our largely incoherent ramblings would be inconsiderate to the poor souls who had turned up in the vain hope of hearing a new direction in Brass Band musicology. Our intention was to stretch the Brass idiom to new levels of musical excellence through spontaneity and perceptive awareness of our fellow band members flights of self indulgent fantasy. Quite often we did not meet our improvisational aims but much was learnt in the attempt to break free from the constraints and restrictions of rhythmical giustemente.
If this was free to allcomers, including non musicians, we felt that we had the right to experiment to our hearts content. If a charge was made, however, we would have to give the Ladies and Gentlemen what they had paid for, and that was to be entertained. This would clearly have hampered our chances of performing mind blowing variations of such old classics as, Get me to the church on time, or, the 4th movement from Edward Elgars Severn Suite.
This is, I believe, the crux of the matter in hand and indeed something for you to ponder in your worthwhile consideration of this very engaging debate.

Yours

Henley Wargrave (Rtd)

Hi again,
i thought i would just like to mention a few things that i had been stewing over just prior to my 3 month lay off that i became reminded of at last weeks jam.
firstly i want to pay homage to the guys that make up this site... its like reading a great music rag and wondering if you just might get a mention, (i\'m to underground for rollin stone).
I also have been meaning to give a low bow to some fine musicians. As a guitarist myself it amazes me how many different styles of axemen there are at \'the Head\' they really push you hard to keep up with them. As for drummers and bassists we must the biggest collection at any jam i know off, and a big mention here goes to Neil whose drumming has come on a storm, he is really playing with some power and authority, no longer happy to be in the background.
There are too many great musicians and good buddies to mention so i will save that for other weeks, but i can\'t go without acknowledging the the \"filth and the fury\" that is at the court of \"king Ralph\". Yes the man who just gets up and does it his way, no messin\' he is fast becoming the legend of the kings head.
I\'m off now before i get too excited about this weeks Jam.
Alan (he uses stratnav) Taylor

Hi gang,
i would like to say how great it is to be back playing again it feels like an age since i was last on the stage. I would like to thank everyone for welcoming me back, it was really cool to see you all.
Alan

Just wanted to say thanks for the good review - i really appreciate that and the support and good times that i have had down at the Kings/Court and hope to be back in soon eh!
(anonymous)

Hi gang,
I was just thinking maybe we should hold an awards night, with prizes going to jammers.... how about the Keith Richards’ I can't work out what key this is in so I’ll just roam in E award’.... The Jerry Garcia 'I'm gonna solo to red house till everyone’s gone home' award.... The Pete Townsend I’ve got to be louder than everyone else award... the Jon Bonham 'how hard can I hit it before it breaks' award or how about the Chuck Berry I'm gonna play something you just pick it up award. There must be at least one I could win. Alan

Some of the boys from Global Jam have recently been checking out some other Jams and have found it quite interesting.
Last Thursday we went to a music bar in Acton high road and having been there a couple of times before it was good to make a comparison. The sound is very good there, it is a small club with low ceilings and due to its size it fills up nicely. The Drum kit is a good, punchy Ludwig with a full Bass drum sound, and the Mics seem well controlled from the mixing desk. Bass guitar sounds rich and deep and the warmth of the place makes for good guitar sounds.
So far, so good. I have always thought that we have had the friendliest Jam around and the Guys and Gals that run this place are also most welcoming. Some oddities, though. The House Band take full control of the evening and appear on stage quite a lot. Reggae seems to dominate, although it is by no means a black club, (more of a healthy cultural mix, if anything), and last Thursday at 11. p.m. they made the very odd decision to stop Jammin for 30 - 40 mins whilst the D.J. played a set of Ska classics. Now I absolutely love Ska from the sixties, but there was a line of musicians all waiting to play, some of whom had not had one turn yet. As I say, most peculiar daddio.
There was quite a few Kings Head, Drayton Court regulars at this place and its a good feeling, being in this little community of jammers. Paul and Des are becoming a regular pairing and it shows. They work well together and are becoming as tight as .........well, you make your own similes.
One good thing about this particular Jam is the regular use of supplementary instruments. - Keyboards, Bongos etc and it really helps to colour the overall sound. The one thing we could do with is some extra instrumentalists. A sax would be nice.
Anyway, we hope to check out some more in the future and hopefully Global Jam could become, well, Global. Around west London at least.
Does any one else know of any more interesting Jams. Write to - Yes! I know of some more interesting Jams, thank you. c/o Dear Global Jam (feedback)

Be seeing you ......Neil.

So, it’s that time of year, again. The festive season is upon us, the season of goodwill, a time to be jolly, a celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus, etc. Funny how there’s always a lot of hard work involved in the run-up to the holiday, and it’s no different here at globaljam. All that stress and anxiety manifests itself in different ways in different people. On the outside I may appear to become even more bloody miserable than some people think I usually am. Well in fact, I can assure you that inside I’m actually doing cartwheels at the thought of playing another slow 16 bar blues in G minor. Jovan may become withdrawn, possibly due to a lack of exposure to natural light, and may be seen trying to rectify this condition by searching out the brightest stage light and soaking up the heat while his fingers are a blur on that ruddy 6 string bass. Neil on the other hand seems to adopt a rather thrifty approach to his playing, where one beat does for all. Whether it be Chicago shuffle or Texas swing, you get 4 on the ride, 2 on the snare and 1 on the kick, and don’t even think about asking for owt else. While all else are running around like headless chickens, there he is, at the back, quietly going about his business, getting the job done. So, it’s not so bad really. And Jovan only fills in the gaps I leave due to my own eco-friendly playing. Just don’t come up to me and say ‘cheer up, it may never happen’. I play the blues, I do believe my time ain’t long, my mojo does not work at the mo’, my baby’s walking on down the street, my search always ends in vain, I’m almost level with the ground and it most probably happened while I wasn’t looking. Still, I look to find a reason to believe. Because, I am on the road to better days, and there’s only one more mile to go.
Anyway I’m off to record next years Christmas single - ‘Oh **** (Not Christmas Again) B/W an instrumental - Bah Humbug (in Gm)!

Ole Misery Guts

Hi folks, here's something i would like to throw out there, sometimes i feel that jamming can spoil a good song. To me a good song needs to be played, maybe not always the way it has been written but always with the intention of making the song ultimately stand out, 'the song is the thing'. Sometimes the musician can think "i want to throw loads of notes/drum fills into this" and before you know the song has become a bit of a free for all mess. I say, make the song cool first and do your thing at the end or save it for another more appropriate jamming piece. Lay back, be cool, feel what needs to be done, and wait for your moment. I find that the audience appreciate it more. This is not a sideswipe at anybody in particular, i just think it is something we should all bare in mind, like noise levels, and over extended solos. We have some great musicians at the jam but it amazes me that sometimes they do not look around and realise there is a smoking keyboard player behind or that the drummer wants to try something, (i guess that is a bit of a swipe).
Alan

A belated Happy New Year to all the Drayton regulars. Thanks for plenty of good times in 2007 and I look forward to plenty more in 08.
Neil, that dream staff job on the NME circa 1975 to 1981 will be forever available to you. The world of journalism lost out the day that Neil decided to go and work on Civvie Street.
He does us proud. The Bard of The Blues, The Journalist of Jam, The Recorder of Rock. etc. etc. etc
Graham

Dear Globaljam
*I was just thinking........ The tuesday jam has turned the corner as far as keeping the room filled with people and atmosphere, well from 10pm at least. But it does mean that it makes it harder to keep everybody happy with stage time. So i have a suggestion...what if we limited eveybody on stage to a max of 15 minutes. That should give everybody at least two shots maybe three, and you would get to play with more musicians, which would be a bonus considering there are so many good players and improvers to join in with. You should be able to get at least two lengthy jams or a long one and two good songs down. The clock is facing you at the back of the wall, so there should be no problem there. It would mean that the next act needs to be to be tuned and ready to go, but that would be a bonus, as it would keep people inside a bit more supporting the acts that are on. I think it would be good practise when guys/girls... err brothers n sisters, are having to watch the clock a bit, as sometimes when you are jamming there are minutes that can go by when not a lot musically is going on, untill someone takes the lead to orchestrate things. I beleive this would be good practise for many who are not used to leading, and can help in a musicians development.
You may not agree with what i propose and believe in a more what happens, happens approach to jamming. I would like to know how people feel either way, maybe you have a different idea. Feel free to express yourself, the jam is growing and getting very good, sometimes you have to tweek things a little ....or not. Alan

Many readers will be interested to know that the band i was playing with mentioned in the review were sacking me that very day because apparantly the bloody singer was getting signed to universal and some executives had desided i wasn\'t good looking enough and that i played worse than all of the other band members! Im sure many of the good people of the jam would not agree with that and i feel quite relived to be out of the band as it was obviously a disaster and the negative feedback makes me quite smug to hear people like Bavesh say \"Dont worry about being out, this guys not all that he\'s not going anywhere\"

Also those other band members had been rehearsing with some professional bassist the company got in and yet on stage the guitarist says \"I cant remember it\" which i didnt find funny and consequently i felt i held it together.

Anyway the main question is that if no one liked the guy then why the hell is he getting signed to Universal? Is the music industry that clueless...?

Anyone know a good blues band need a bassist?

Young Alex

Hi There,

As a regular reader of your splendlid web thing, I thought I may add a few thoughts to the raging debate about time spent on stage.
During my time as a reporter on the Lacock and Reybridge Herald, back in the far off fifties and saucy sixties, I found myself covering plenty of action on the Wiltshire Brass Band Improvisation circuit. Trumpet players were the main culprits when it came to outstaying their welcome, but equally irksome were the drummists that insisted on taking a solo. Believe me, some sticksman with an ego who wanted to give a show of extended paradiddles and flams on a solitary snare drum was one thing, but those chappies that insisted on a solo for ten minutes on the Bass Drum was quite another. Something had to be done. To wit, The Herald came up with a splendid innovation. a traffic light system. Mounted on a post just to the left of the performing area, in any venue, the green light meant that you were o.k. to play. Orange was the sign that an audience was getting restless and red of course was the signal to stop. Occasionally on a red a band would play on for a couple more minutes and this became known as jumping the lights. A problem that still exists today, albeit on Britains road system.
Fines could be issued and in extreme cases a musician could lose his performing licence. Only once was there a serious incident when a band making there way to the stage, on seeing the light, collided on the boards with a bunch of musicians who had just gone through a red. Much mangling of trombones and tubas and it took an hour to clear the stage. There was a backlog of musicians waiting to go on and it is from this incident that we get the term - Jam.
I wish you well with your attempts to curtail the excesses of those who feel that the stage is theirs and theirs alone and I very much look forward to reading other views on this vastly engaging subject.
Yours
Watlington P Risborough.

My View From The Middle - by Andy aged 12 (mental age that is)
The middle, is that little space between the management / staff (on the left) and jammers and friends punters, supporters? (on the right). Last nights jam 01.07.08 turned out to be pretty good despite a few grumblings from both sides. I don’t always get to hear grievances from jammers, but I like to think that I can pick up on these things though, and this site provides the means for all to express an opinion. There is a situation developing with the management /staff of the Drayton and myself. I have detected a less than tolerant attitude to what we do (jamming) on a Tuesday. They constantly complain about volume levels, sometimes it’s justified. This complaint reached a new height when the houseband was asked to turn it down when we were setting up and tuning up last night. There was virtually no one in the bar upstairs and the people that weren’t there couldn’t hear the piped music because of the din we were making! Basically we are dealing with non-music people (staff) who seem to view the jam as an irritating encumbrance. I know volume levels are high sometimes and we should look after our jamming environment by keeping it in check, but, I am not one of those people who would like to have a quiet conversation at the back of the room whilst taking tea or nursing a glass of tap water all night. If I wanted to do that I would stay home.
It’s a jam, and by its nature, unpredictable. We should be open- minded to what goes on, on stage. The only people who have the right to get up and play rehearsed songs/material is the houseband. Everyone else takes a chance. Back me into a corner on this point and will say; this is not an open mic session where people perform rehearsed material. Nor is it a showcase night for bands to pose or promote their wares. In the past we have accommodated solo performances and I hope we will continue to do so, but only when the time is right. Problems arise e.g. when guitarists can only play in specific keys or nobody wants to play with certain individuals. We had a vocalist at the jam last night who only got one song. Why? Because everyone else wants to do their own singing. It’s not fair, I know, but no one ever said this is a democracy. If Santana walks through the door at 11.30, he is going on, trust me, and he won’t be limited to 15 min. Where do you draw the line? Well, I was at the Grey Horse jam earlier this year. I got there really early, still waiting for my turn with 15 mins to go when the local regional celeb turns up and is invited to close it out with the house band, Yeah, I think I draw the line in front of that. However if you were to stick with us, you may find yourself in the privileged position of doing a solo slot (if that’s your bag) in front of an appreciative audience of musos and friends at a later date. Some of you may have had that experience already. I / we run the jam pretty loosely. That’s our style and it’s probably a reflection of our character, like it or loathe it. If you check out the jamming code page you will see that there are some rules for guidance. We don’t enforce the rules rigidly though. How can you, when you are dealing with musicians. Show me an organised musician and I’ll show you an oxymoron! People arriving late, people playing for too long, people playing too loud, people not buying a drink, people audibly tuning up on stage throughout the first song/jam, are all rude. The list of rude things to do at a jam must be endless, but I bet we have all been guilty at one time or another of this inconsiderate behaviour. Whatever your reason for going to a jam, whether it be therapeutic, or a craving for an audience, whatever.... it’s OK. My advice? Keep your powder dry, and your turn will surely come.
Sorry if this sounds brutal. I’m away for a while. Maybe see you when I’m back. Maybe I won’t come back. I’m off to rock back and forth in a darkened room now.
Andy

With the Jams going so well lately I just thought it was time I handed out some plaudits for those who have been so instrumental (groan) in keeping this thing alive. Some real regulars from the days when I first joined need the first mention and apart from their undoubted talent, guys like Alan, Chris, Sean, George and Ralph are much appreciated for their enthusiasm and willingness to fit in anywhere, anyway and anyhow, (There's a song in there somewhere). Andy F obviously has more enthusiasm than has previously been thought possible by enthusiasm scientists, but as he runs the show, I can't say any more unless it's construed as favouritism. Let's just say that I think he's obsessed. This little band of men, (growing, as I write), that we know as our Jammin' set has had real moments of joy and when the momentum is with us there's nowhere I'd rather be. Graham G has had real success with the House Bandits on alternate Tuesdays, (alternative Tuesdays if Nick shows up), and the real measure of how well things are going is the number of 1st class musicians who are joining us on a regular basis, - Sam Kelly, Lally, (and Joe X, on Thursdays), and also some of the guys who joined us as raw as an uncooked egg have come on to be real stalwarts, appreciated by all. - Bhavesh and Alex and Jack come to mind, here. Some of the patience you guys have with new recruits not fully up to speed is an aspect of our Jams that I hold dear. The welcome I was given as a newcomer basically made my choice of deciding to stick with you lot, rather than float around other Jams.
This is still the best entertainment in town and it is a joint effort. So, to guys like Rupert, and Jovan, Chris (Bass & sound),Bojan, Gary G, Graeme Harper, Mr Hot, Chester, Stelios, Paul, Tim, Stephanos, Des, Phil, Chao and also any of the groups that come as units to entertain us, I'd like to say thanks a million and let's keep rockin'. (Apologies to any one I've left out).
Neil.