Back to the Jam
Posted on July 1, 2010 with 0 comments
Hi, friends,
Tuesday night I attended a jazz jam session. I used to go all the time, but since I started school 7 years ago I've let my jazz activities slide. It's been years since I've jammed.
I chose the friendliest session in town, Joe Grandsen's Tuesday night session at Twain's. Joe's amazing. He makes everyone feel like they're the most important person in the room. On top of all that, he's a consummate musician and a virtuosic player.
That really helps, because jam sessions aren't easy things to go into. Typically you wait around, listening to other people play, never knowing when you're going to be called up. Once you get up there, if you're a piano player, you don't always know what you're going to play, because a lot of times the sax, trumpet or singer is choosing. If you're lucky, you get to play with other good players, but sometimes you wind up with folks that can't play, or don't play well with you. Worst case scenario, you'll spend three hours waiting to play five minutes with a bad combo on a song you don't know!
As I said, though, Joe's session is the best. He made sure I got up there; in other words, he remembered me when there were five other piano players ahead of me. He asked me what I wanted to play, which was very generous of him! No matter who was playing, he was making sure everybody had what they needed, was all together, and that the audience was having a good time.
And what an audience. Loud, appreciative. I haven't seen that kind of audience for jazz in a long time. Probably because everyone was having fun! That's important.
Thanks, Joe,
I'll be back.
Adam
Tuesday night I attended a jazz jam session. I used to go all the time, but since I started school 7 years ago I've let my jazz activities slide. It's been years since I've jammed.
I chose the friendliest session in town, Joe Grandsen's Tuesday night session at Twain's. Joe's amazing. He makes everyone feel like they're the most important person in the room. On top of all that, he's a consummate musician and a virtuosic player.
That really helps, because jam sessions aren't easy things to go into. Typically you wait around, listening to other people play, never knowing when you're going to be called up. Once you get up there, if you're a piano player, you don't always know what you're going to play, because a lot of times the sax, trumpet or singer is choosing. If you're lucky, you get to play with other good players, but sometimes you wind up with folks that can't play, or don't play well with you. Worst case scenario, you'll spend three hours waiting to play five minutes with a bad combo on a song you don't know!
As I said, though, Joe's session is the best. He made sure I got up there; in other words, he remembered me when there were five other piano players ahead of me. He asked me what I wanted to play, which was very generous of him! No matter who was playing, he was making sure everybody had what they needed, was all together, and that the audience was having a good time.
And what an audience. Loud, appreciative. I haven't seen that kind of audience for jazz in a long time. Probably because everyone was having fun! That's important.
Thanks, Joe,
I'll be back.
Adam