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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The Jam At Bill's Blues Bar


I haven't been hitting the Tuesday night blues jam at Bill's Blues lately. Late nights combined with early mornings don't work for this 52-year old guy; at least not very often. But I needed to dig up a drummer for my gig on August 11, so I headed down to the club to network. Hey, it was awesome!

My friend Tom Crivellone and his band, Two for the Blues, have been running the jam at Bill's for a while now. It has developed into a bit of a ritual, with regulars and a comfortable vibe. There were some top blues cats hanging out last night - Sammy Fender, Toronzo Cannon, Shoji Naito and several other blues professionals. But it is always the jammers, the less-than-professional musicians that amaze me. A jam can be a "blues school" with the experienced players leading the less experienced, and the results can be surprisingly good. But sometimes a few too many inexperienced players hit the stage at the same time and a train wreck occurs. But that's OK too. Bad music played sincerely beats good music with no heart.

So I got to sit in with Sammy Fender. What a great showman - he kills me!! I got to get this man to play with the Mystery Band some time.

Oh, and I did hire a drummer - the solid and delightful Twist Turner!

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