Irene's/Ottawa Canada

This truly is the best blues jam(Stellar Cast Blues Showcase) in Ottawa. A lot of credit goes to Mike Ktenas of Mojo Guitar Repair for pulling this off every Thursday night. Bassman Mike and drummer Corkey Kealy always have a guest "host" player of the highest caliber to kick the night off from the first note. Last night it was guitar ace JW Jones from Ottawa. I got to sit in for the fourth set and it was a real pleasure to play with JW. An international blues star in his own right, I also see he has been working with my favorite living blues drummer Richard Innes during the recording of his latest, soon to be released CD.

The Rainbow/Ottawa, Canada

Good blues jam going on here once again. The jammers were down to a minimum last time I played here about two months ago. However tonight things were looking and sounding much better. Rumour has it that that Dan Aykroyd will stop in here to jam on harp when he is in town to visit. I was up on stage for the third set with Mike on bass, Dr Dave and Rob on guitars. Great players and a fun time.

Also got to play on an Ayotte set of drums for the first time. This Canadian made set sounds great and with the wood hoops rim shots were easily played.

Acton Jazz Cafe/Acton, MA

The Acton Jazz Cafe last Thursday was busy as usual. It's been about two months since I last played the blues jam here. Up tonight with Rob and Herb on guitars along with a bass player that had a custom made stand-up solid body that looked werid, but sounded fine. We started off the four song set with a Jimmy Reed tune "Baby What You Want Me To Do." Which reminded me of a new Austin City Limits program I just saw on PBS-HD a few weeks before. The show was a tribute to Jimmy Reed featuring the "Jimmy Reed Highway". Great music and musicians-the drummer West Starr played a late 50's or early 60's Rogers set with center lugs on the bass and toms. I've never seen that kind of Rogers set before. Wes's blues drumming was teriffic-no over playing, just keeping the grove simple and in the pocket. In fact, Wes appeared to be a left handed drummer playing a right handed set--interesting.

Chan's/Woonsocket, RI

I've been playing the once a month blues jam at Chan's off and on for the last year and a half. If you read any of my earlier posts from this year you can see that at one time it was just a terrific place to play. It had been a while since I had the chance to go until last month and then again last night. Things here have really changed. No longer is there the big crowd turnout to hear the music. A lot of the jammers have stopped coming too. There used to be keyboard players, horn players and really great musicians from other working bands that would stop in to jam-not any more. What happened here? Here's my observations: For what ever reason Jam Master Ken has let a 17 year old guitar slinger just take over this jam. Now don't get me wrong. The kid plays pretty well for his age. However, he is not even close to what Monster Mike Welch's ability was when he was that old. This kid also plays way too loud, even after being asked to turn it down a bit. Attitude problems? The smart remarks he makes over the mike between songs gets old quick and enough with the constant Hendrix and Cream tunes. But the real problem here is that he is up on the bandstand just about all night long. Last night he was up except for about 30 minutes during this 3 hour blues jam. Give this kid his spot of 3,4, 5 tunes and he's done just like everyone else. Let the rest of the jammers play the blues(It is still a blues jam isn't it?) and everyone will again enjoy a night out listening to the blues instead of having to babysit this guitar child.

Fat Daddy's/Dunedin, FL

This was my second time playing this Tuesday night blues jam in the Tampa area. Music starts about 9:30 at this small club that has some loyal players. The leader is a transplanted CT guitar player Jimmy Griswold, who can really tear things up on the bandstand. Drummer "Pug" is also a great player and is always willing to let other drummers sit-in. He has one of the best sounding 13" snare drums I've ever played.

Green Iquana-West/Tampa, FL

Working in Tampa this week I checked out a new blues jam for me on Monday night. This one according to the keyboard player/leader has been going for 17 years! Good jam with some hot players, though the first few songs tended to be more on the jazz side of town rather than blues. The house drummer Mike was new since it was only his second week playing. Well worth playing here again, however the music doesn't get underway until about 10:30.

Firefly's BBQ/Framingham, MA

OK, It's been about 2 1/2 months since my last post. I've had the chance to jam at many places during that time-MA, FL, RI, Canada..... Last night it was local here in MA. I've always seen this acoustic blues jam listed on the Boston Blues Website, but never had the time to check it out. It turned out not really to be a blues jam. It was more of an open mike-singer-songwriter kind of thing. I did have my cocktail set with me and the host Bruce Marshall was kind enough to let me set up and play with him as well as some of the other musicians. Space was very tight for setup with a good crowd, good sound system and a wide range of music and skills displayed behind the mike during the night. No attitudes here, a well run program with everyone getting at least two songs. Highlights for me was getting to play with two dobro players at the same time and the one harp player that I jammed with was a former student of Jerry Portnoy. Bruce is a fine musician in his own right able to play and sing all different types of popular music. Even pulling a couple of tunes from his eighth grade band's set list. All which made me feel nostalgic and old, since I was playing the same songs during those years.

Warmdaddys/ Philly

It's been weeks since my last post, but I have been traveling and playing blues jams in FL, MA, PA & MN. My biggest disappointment has been the demise of the great blues jam at Warmdaddys in Philly. One of my favorites for years is no longer. I'm not sure what happened here, but the band that ran this jam for years is gone, along with most of the jammers. There is still a jam though not really a blues jam since this band is anything but. We're talking R&B and jazz now. They have no idea about running a jam-stay away. Let's hope the old jam re-appears at another location soon.

Rockwells Corner Pub/Largo, FL

Not a bad jam. Though I don't think they have a lot of "outsiders" come into play. The drummer was friendly and happy to share his set.

Acton Jazz Cafe/Acton, MA

5/24/07

Tip Top/Indianapolis, IN

5/31/07

Slippery Noodle/Indianapolis, IN

5/30/07

Concord Inn/Concord, MA

5/28/07

Stone's Public House/Ashland, MA

5/27/07

Savannah/Westlake, OH

5/10/07

Loose Moose Cafe/Sagamore Hills, OH

5/9/07

Colonial Inn/Concord, MA

Monday I finally took the drive over to Concord to check out the roots music jam session with Tom Yates and friends. It's a very low key and cozy venue in an old new england inn built in 1716. Not being sure if there were any house drums available I decided to bring along my cocktail kit, which turned out to be a perfect addition since playing space was tight at best. The house band included Tom on guitar, Rick Maida on bass and Rod also on guitar. I had a great time playing with these musicians as well as other jammers doing some blues, country and rock tunes. The cocktail kit always gets a lot of positive comments for it's looks, some people have never seen one, or if they have it was 40 years ago. Most are always amazed on how good it sounds. I just love playing it. It's so unlike playing a regular sit down set. I think I become more creative in my playing when using it. I'm not really sure why-less to work with-tighter sound-standing closer to the other players and not being behind them?? This was a fun jam and I'll be back again in the future.

Railhead-Boulder Station Hotel/Las Vegas, NV

While looking for a blues jam to play on Thursday here in Vegas and finding none. I took a chance and went to check out a place that I had heard there was blues being featured every Thursday night. I was blown away when I walked into this show room and found Tommy Castro and his band just finishing up their first song of the night. Lucky for me they were just getting started playing from about 8-11 with about 40 minute break between two sets. Tommys great, but of course it was the drummer, Chris Sandoval that I enjoyed watching and listening to. He plays for the groove and keeps the fills to a minimum-a la Al Jackson, Jr. A blues drummer after my own heart. His double shuffle is dead on and he plays a great train beat. During the break between sets I got a chance to talk to Chris about his snare drum, among other things. The snare sounded great and I found out it was an older 6 1/2" Pearl free floating shell that he had found in a music store. Chris brought it back to life by drilling it for Ludwig lugs and using a Pearl die-cast rim on the batter side. I asked if they were going to do their song "My Older Sisters Radio" off their new album. Chris said they would and later Tommy intro'd it by giving Bill Wax from XM Radio credit for playing and pluging it on Bluesville channel 74 on the satellite. If you haven't seen this band in concert you need to. I think they maybe coming to Chan's in June. Check them out.

Bunkhouse Saloon/Las Vegas, NV

Played the blues jam here last Tuesday evening. The Bunkhouse's location isn't anywhere near the strip and blocks from the brightly light downtown area. The house band started at 10 and jammers started being called up by 11:15 . The jam is run by a harp player better known as "Lipz". Pretty much the run of the mill blues songs here "Mustang Sally, Sweet Home Chicago, Stormy Monday"-you get the idea. The biggest surprise of the night was the ride cymbal on the house drummers kit set up at an 85 degree angle. Why do people play cymbals in that position? I sure there must be other jams to play in sin city, just not tonight.

Worcester Magazine/Worcester, MA

I was sure surprised to see my blog comments about the Gilreins blues jam last Sunday reprinted this week in Worcester Magazine. But there it was on page 10, April 19th edition in their "Blog Log" compiled by Scott Zoback. I also received a Email response from Tom Doyle/Gilreins "Home of the Blues". It reads: " Hi, Sorry for the long wait I know we had a couple of bands scheduled and most weeks we won't have entire bands but we had a couple bands trying to get into the club and had to give them a chance. Please stop in again and sit in for a few more songs. Hope to see you again. T " Don't worry Tom. I will be back when I can, but my travel this next week takes me out to Las Vegas.

Acton Jazz Cafe/Acton, MA

Back for the Thursday night blues jam this week. Played the third set on the house kit for the first time. Usually Mike Avery brings his set, but he didn't have time to pick it up at home before the jam. This set is a mid-grade Pearl kit, nothing special. Thank goodness I had brought my own snare drum. The big news of the night was that house guitar player Tom Yates had just won the title of "King of the Blues" at Guitar Centers NE competition in Natick. I've had the pleasure of playing drums behind Tom many times at this jam. He's a fine blues player and singer. I wish I could have been at the contest.

Warmdaddys/Philadelphia,PA

Philly is not a stronghold of the blues, but the blues jam here at Warmdaddys is helping to keep the flame alive. First, you have a new beautiful restaurant/ bar venue-great food. Second, A big stage and a sound system with a sound man that knows what to do with it. And third, the blues jam itself being run by Randy Lippincott and his band. Randy does a great job of matching up new or struggling players with the more experienced ones with great results. Where else can you go and play with the caliber of players that come here every Tuesday night to jam. Randy who has played guitar with Luther "Guitar" Johnson, Debbie Davies and Johnny Copeland. Then there is Don Evans ex-guitar player for Billy Joel and the real deal, guitar man James"Thunderbird" Ford from South Carolina. I've been playing this jam for about four years now every time I'm in Philly and it's still a thrill to play here. Tonight I was the only drummer to show up other than Bob the house drummer, so I got to play two sets. One was backing up James "Thunderbird" Ford. To play a shuffle behind this guy is a blues drummers dream. I've been here in the past when there's been 5 or more drummers signed up to play, so a night this light on drummers is rare. The house drum kit is a well worn Pearl kit with a snare that I dislike, so I brought along my Eames Master Model snare to play. Even Bob the house drummer used it once he heard how good it sounded. Check out Warmdaddys website: www.warmdaddys.com

Gilreins/Worcester, MA

New blues jam and last night was their second Sunday. Gilreins is a blues club that is well known in the area, but has been closed for a few years. The new owner has done a beautiful job of revamping this venue. However the jam still needs some work. First there's a good size stage and sound system. Nice crowd and some dancing, which is always a plus. The jam starts at 4 pm and ends at 9. I arrived at 6 and signed in on the jam list, but never got on to play until after 8. It seems that if you show up with a group to play you get on first, even if you are at the bottom of the list. One group was a jazz quartet that got to play 5 songs. Hey, I thought this was a Blues Jam? Using the sign up list in order and limiting sets to 3 songs or 15 minutes is a good policy to consider here since most players, myself included, won't be returning if they have to wait a long time to play while having to listen to something other than blues. The house drummer is a friendly guy with a great set of Sonor drums with a poppin' Gretch snare. This is one of the nicer sets I've ever had a chance to play at a jam. Check out Gilreins website: www.gilreins.net

Providence Zen Center/Cumberland, RI

Not a blues jam, but a half hour gig playing "Buddha's Birthday Weekend" celebration on April 7th. I received a Email from my buddy Bob Cohen who I met at the Chan's blues jam that he needed a drummer for a Saturday night blues gig. My problem was that I was traveling for ten days straight and would not have any time to practice. In fact, I didn't get back home until about 6 hours before the start of the gig. So, Bob posted the songs on his Web-site for us to learn, and we had about 5 minutes to go over the starts and stops of the tunes before we played. All in all we sounded great! The group was made up of myself on the cocktail set, Bob on harp and singing, Bob Vabulus on bass and Chris Stovall Brown on guitar. With the majority of my playing doing jams this was a real treat to play with some terrific local blues musicians.

Oskies/Farragut,TN

Played this Wednesday night blues jam last night. Friendly players, but blues music was in short supply at this venue. A big disappointment with the caliber of players and selection of "blues songs". When did "Smoke On The Water" gain entry into any ones blues set list? The drums carried on the theme being a Pearl set from the eighties that were well worn and hadn't had a head change since then. I won't be back anytime.

Finnegans/Delano, MN

Neat blues jam tonight about 40 miles from where I was staying in Minneapolis, located in the small town of Delano. So, it's a good thing my Hertz rental had an on-board GPS. Moses Oakland usually is the host, but had a conflicting gig tonight. Dale the house drummer was acting host and did a good job of getting everyone up for the standard three tunes even with no sign up list. I wasn't able to really tell what brand of drums I was playing since it was pretty dark where the band was setup. I did find it tough to play a fast shuffle with the snare batter head tuned so loose. Some real tasteful players here tonight and well worth the drive.

Action Jazz Cafe/Action, MA

Back to Action last Thursday, the 8th.......Great jam with the usual bunch of musicians for 5 songs in the second set. I brought my 4X14" Downbeat snare along since this room is very "live" and I always seem to play louder than needed. The smaller snare worked well, however I still need to play softer. Maybe it's time to bring my cocktail setup along for this lower volume blues jam.

Chan's/Woonsocket/RI

Chan's last night after traveling the last two weeks in NY and the mid-west, but never having the time to jam. No sign up list, but Ken Lyons did a good job of getting everyone up to play. I was the first drummer up, after Steve the house drummer. I got to play 5 or 6 songs behind Bob Cohen on Harp and a new guitar player "AC". I also brought my Eames Master Model custom snare along for the first time. What a joy it is to play-very responsive and plenty of power when you need it. With 15 plys of brich-7"X14" it's a pretty massive drum and sounds great! I needed the power last night with 4 guitars, bass, keyboards, harp, 2 saxes, washboard player on stage to play behind. I love playing this jam

Irene's Pub/Ottawa, Canada

I just got an E-mail from Mike Ktenas a bluesman who runs a very popular and cookin' blues jam in Ottawa Canada every Thursday night. March 8th is the First Anniversary of this great jam at Irene's Pub. I wish I could be there to play it, but I won't be up that way again until springtime. Check out the blues goings on in Ottawa on Jim Roy's website: www.ottawabluesjazz.ca

Acton Jazz Cafe/Acton, MA 2/8/07

Back last Thursday night for this great blues jam. Downbeat Magazine just listed this club in it's top 100 jazz clubs worldwide. Of course no jazz tonight-just blues. Got to play a 5 song set with Chris a fine slide player leading things throughout. We finished things off with a blues rumba, a beat I haven't had the pleasure to play in a while. There was also a conga player tonight and I love to play with another drummer most times, except this guy did everything he could to play constant "fills" during the slow blues numbers. No feeling here, just making sounds with every little percussion toy he happened to bring along. Hey I know it's a jam, but please, enough is enough. One of the organ players brought in his own Leslie tonight, so they had dual Leslies hooked up. A lot of sound, but it wasn't any kind of a stereo experience to listen to.

Chan's/Woonsocket, RI

Back at Chan's last night for a great jam. Alternating drummers now with Steve playing in the house band tonight. His set was made up of classic 60's Ludwig drums with 70's hardware, a good sounding set. Always a pleasure to play here since there are always some hot harp players and last night was no exception.

Acton Jazz Cafe/Acton, MA

Got to play here for the first time this new year last Thursday. Hands down this is one of the best blues jams in New England. However, it's also the only jam that I've ever been to that charges a cover($5), even to the jammers. But, that's the only minus. BJ Magoon and crew; Tom Yates and drummer Mike Avery do a fine job of keeping the music on track and getting everyone time to play. There is a sign up list and BJ does his best in getting everyone up in order. 3 or 4 songs is the average jam set and there is a solid crowd here that also likes to dance. Full Hammond organ and a miked baby grand piano is available and it's such a great experience to play with two keyboard players at a jam. Horn players always seem to be in the house too. Mike's drums are a well gigged Tama set with a 70's Slingerland snare. He's a terrific player that loves to drop bass drum bombs. Back in 2005 I was here for the jam and it was a night that BJ couldn't play, so who shows up as his replacement? Ronnie Earl!! What a great first set listening to one of the best- close up in this cozy venue. I was disappointed I didn't get to play with him, since he split after the set. Maybe next time.

Slippery Noddle/Indianapolis, IN

I finally got to play the blues jam at the Slippery Noddle Inn in Indianapolis last night. I've always wanted to play here since first seeing their full page ad that they run in every issue of "Big City Rhythm & Blues"magazine. Great room and great crowd that kept growing as the night went on. The house band was hot and they get extra credit for starting right on time at 9pm. I had arrived early to have supper and was the first to sign the jam list. The house drum kit was a 4 piece Premeir kit that was mid grade and sounded fine. The bass drum was miked, but nothing else on the kit. It really boomed both on stage and out front. I'd rather have the whole kit miked or not at all. The drum sounds were so uneven. Anyone that came in with a "group" got to get up to play early. Anyone signing up "alone"such as myself didn't get invited to play until later. I walked on stage aound 11:30. All in all, not a bad jam.

Chan's, Woonsocket, RI

Made it over to Chan's last night to play the blues jam. They just went from the last Wednesday of every month to two times a month. Normally this place is packed with jammers and listeners, but last night it wasn't and I don't think they got the word out about the new mid-month jam. The set here belongs to the house drummer Adam who is one of the nicest guys. In fact if your a drummer wanting to play, sign the list, but then introduce yourself to Adam and he'll get you up. Ken Lyon runs the jam, but the last two times I've been here he hasn't even looked at the sign up list. Adam's set is a well worn mis-matched Gretsch set from the 60's with a 70's Ludwig 6 1/2X14" metal snare. The snare is tuned very loose so I bring my 6X14" Eames snare to use. I like a tight batter head when I'm playing shuffles. This is a great room to play. A super sound system with someone running it that knows what he's doing. I never have a problem here with hearing the other players, it's a nice change. Some really great players show up here and you want to be on the top of your game to sit in. Also check out "Live At Chan's" Nick Moss and the Flip Tops latest CD was recorded here.

Famous Daves, Minneapolis, MN

Played the blues jam at Famous Dave's in Minneapolis Sunday night for the first time. Great place for blues and BBQ. The place was packed even though there was a snowstorm going on outside. A well run jam by Moses Oakland......a sign up list and he kept things going by changing things up after only two songs per jammer. (I wished I could have played longer) The drum kit belonged to the venue and was fine as house kits go. I did notice the house drummer tuning it up before leaving the stage after the first set. Nice touch-thank you. I'll be back to play next time I'm in town.

Fat Boy Bills, Milford, MA

With the new year here I will be finally hitting the road this next week. I was unable to play any local jams this week. However, I did sit in at Fat Boy Bills in Milford, MA last week. Not a bad place, but there was hardly anyone there. Some real good players and the jam leader Clay was fair and seemed to get everyone up. There is a sign up list though the order that one signed up was not the order one was called up. The house drummer had a vintage set of late 40s Leddy-Ludwig with a 60s ludwig metal snare. Good sounding set and a pleasure to play.