Green Note, 106 Parkway, Camden. London N1 7AN
Wednesday April 14th 2010
Photos by Andy Hall
Running a jam is an interesting thing to do. It can be an oddly high-intensity thing, with all sorts of people and their needs and wishes to be accommodated over a pretty short space of time. To do it well requires the sort of management and people skills that are normally associated with fat-cat bonus scandals in major corporations. Perhaps some of the newer universities should be running degrees in Jam Running Skills. Graduates of these courses would all be knocking themselves out to emulate Niall Kelly, the doyen of jam runners in my experience, and discovering that his lines are mysteriously only funny when he utters them.
Actually, there are other analogies between this music thing and corporate life. How far up the executive ladder would Muddy Waters have got, for example, if he’d been given a shot at it and had had the inclination to pursue it? The leadership, the people skills, those things now called ‘vision’ and ‘emotional intelligence’ and the like – he had the lot. They should be doing his band as a case study on MBA programmes, and if they did, the calibre of management in this country might shoot up from subterranean to something approaching efficient.
I’m not of course making any claims for myself here – I’m just a civilian who does this once a month. But that experience shows me just what goes into being really good at running jams on a regular basis. So what does the job description include and what exactly does running a jam involve?
It is tempting to think that when you run a jam all human nature is laid before you, but this is not strictly true. As one mainstay harp player once observed to me outside a jam, the proportion of arseholes on the blues jam scene is extremely low in comparison to the number of them in the populace in general. It’s true that one might encounter the odd ‘difficult’ person, and the odd straight down the line prat, but these are very much the exception. And whenever they appear, everyone else closes ranks and mutters about them and makes damn sure they remain the exception.
With just about every electric jam, the set-up is that musicians have little or no say in who they play with. It’s of course true that regulars at various jams may be able to request musicians to play with, and may even get what could be regarded as preferential treatment – right and proper if you’re a regular I’d say. But even this isn’t always the case, because the jam host’s primary role is to make sure that everyone gets a go. And so the norm is that musicians wait for their name to be called out and they don’t know who they’re going to play with until that moment.
This event has tended to differ from the norm in that regard. Because it’s an acoustic event and not awash with guitar slingers, the attempt has been to ask the person leading a set who they’d like to play with and let them choose the ensemble for their set. However, it isn’t always possible to do this all the time, especially when a number of instrumentalists show up, and isn’t a cast-iron guarantee. So sometimes people play with who they’re put with, and the busier the evening, the more likely this is.
At the same time as getting everyone who’s come to play onto the stage, a decent jam host is trying to make sure that all the musicians get to enjoy themselves as much as possible. Even this isn’t always simple – you have to keep an eye on timing, hoping someone doesn’t go on for too long so that it’s hard to fit everyone in. Plus you’re trying to get combinations of musicians that will work and mean that every set sounds OK (and that at least some even sound brilliant).
Which brings you to the audience, who actually aren’t by any means at the bottom of a jam host’s list. At the Green Note, for example, the primary aim is to serve up an excellent evening of varied music for the people who have come to listen. This is of course largely dependent on who shows up to play and I’d say we’ve managed it every time, proving that there’s no shortage of really good acoustic musicians in a wide variety of styles in London (and visiting).
This time was no exception. It was a pretty busy evening, and another very good one indeed, with a good turnout of musicians and audience. It was characterised by two firsts – the first appearance on congas, bongos and other percussion of Mick Paley and Dave Johnson, and the large number of newcomers to the event aside from them who played. As Seasick Steve has been saying remorselessly for the last couple of years ‘It’s all good’.
I kicked off as usual and started with a solo instrumental. Then I was joined by Charles Benfield on double bass, Ryan Carr on mandolin, Will Greener on harmonica, Martin Holloway on drum, and Mick and Dave on percussion for two of my originals – Big Mary’s House and Hard Work. The three-piece percussion section sounded pretty damn good from where I was, and added a whole new dimension to the evening in general.
Next up was Barry Jackson for another solid set, the house band slotting in very nicely with Barry’s polished delivery. I’ve said quite a bit about Barry’s sets over the past few months and there’s nothing new to add here – it was high-quality business as usual.
Phil Hughes was next, a welcome first visit to the event from this highly respected and well-established London blues artist. The room got quiet and put its full attention on Phil’s two solo a cappella voice and harp numbers – the original Sonny Boy Williamson’s Welfare Store Blues and a Tom Waits number whose title escapes me. Several people had told me about Phil’s solo set before but I hadn’t seen it; now I could see what they were raving about, and it was certainly a highlight of what was another excellent and varied evening.
Then came Marsha Mellow, another newcomer to the event. She was accompanied by Danno Sheehan on harp, Phil on acoustic bass, and the percussion section. Danno was to the fore in this set, on what was becoming something of a harp fest, and the whole thing came together as a decent ensemble.
Mick & Dave did their own set next, Mick on harp and vocal, Dave on guitar and vocal. Their electric sets at other jams are always excellent – varied, nice choice of material, interest in playing as a band rather than endless loud soloing. Accompanied by Charles and Martin, they did a fine set that was exactly in keeping with the spirit of this event. Fine musicians both, they fitted right in.
Julian, another first-timer at this jam, then got up and did a couple of solo instrumentals that added further variety to what was on offer during course of the evening. His set included Angi, the seminal Davey Graham piece that could truthfully be said to have changed the face of English folk music, and certainly folk guitar playing. The audience got quiet, keen to hear the something different he was doing. This people listening thing is one of the many good aspects of the Green Note as a venue.
Will Greener got up for his own set next, starting off with an excellent voice and harp solo piece that had the audience’s full attention and went down extremely well. It was delivered with Will’s trademark compelling style, and followed by an equally compelling duo number with Phil on acoustic bass. Ever up for spontaneity and thinking of interesting combinations, Will does just what this event is about, trying out new things on the spur of the moment and making them happen with total success. This voice, harp and bass combination rightly went down really well too, everyone sucked into the atmosphere created.
I got back up with the full band then and did some more of my own numbers – Sneaking Away, Highgate Hill Blues, Early In The Morning and Easy Does It. Well, everyone else had had their go by then, apart from .....
Laine Hines, good friend of Blues at Green Note but sadly not able to come and play all that often due to other commitments. But he showed up for the last slot, this time bringing with him some gizmo that distorted the guitar and vocal sound to emulate the authentic sound of pre-war acoustic blues recordings. It was very effective and Laine again showed why he’s one of the most interesting acoustic artists around, as well as almost certainly the best performer of this brand of acoustic blues in London.
So all was well. The Green Note, as we have observed before, is a terrific place for an event such as this. The people who run it (Immy, Risa) and the people who work there like the event and are very supportive and helpful when it’s on. This is another way in which it differs from some (though by no means all) jams, where the beleaguered soul running it is battling against venue management who seem to think an event they requested in the first place is an annoying inconvenience. So running this is a perfectly pleasant thing to do.
Nevertheless, on a busy one it’s possible for me to see just what goes into running ‘normal’ electric jams well, and fills me with admiration for the people who do that. It may look effortless to most people who are there, but they’re like the proverbial duck - paddling like hell under the surface. And utilising an exceptional set of skills that could earn them fortunes in other walks of life.
So there you have it – blues jam hosts and band leaders in key executive positions, in the Cabinet, heading up corporations, running the show. That would bring about a real recovery in this bankrupt, shoddily-run country, I reckon. If Niall Kelly ran for high office, he’d be a shoo-in, I’d say.
Spare a thought for the next political party canvasser who rings my doorbell.
Mark Harrison
Mark Harrison
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