August & September
I’m going to make a confession here, which is that I’m not totally nuts about every sort of blues music or every sort of acoustic music. A barrage of earnest, yet oddly loud, singer/songwriters pummelling scratchy-sounding electro-acoustic guitars in a strumfest is likely to find me shifting uneasily in my seat. A remorseless onslaught of loud lead guitar solos, however good they are, is likely after a while to present me with will to live issues. It’s the sort of situation where you like everything about the music except the music itself.
Some of this is about variety. At a multi-act event, and I guess a jam or an open mic should be considered that, variety can turn what might otherwise be background music or an ordeal into a memorable event. The performers in question have to be pretty good of course, or at the very least interesting, however you define those things. But if they’ve all got something just a little bit different to offer, that helps too.
This doesn’t mean that everyone has to be doing their own material. What is generally known as roots music tends to encourage variety, especially in the acoustic department, because it encourages individuality. That’s got a lot to do with the fact that most of it is about songs – songs with tunes and memorable hooks and the like. Coupled with the fact these songs are essentially pretty simple musically, the individual performer can put their own stamp on them, turning their version into something different from others.
Take a staple like ‘Stagger Lee’ or ‘John Henry’. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the number of versions of these I have in my collection is well into double figures, and then I’m probably just scratching the surface. I’ve got pre-war versions, 50s versions, Dr John’s in the 70s and Eric Bibb’s this decade. Each one is different from the other in a way that covers of pop or rock songs never could be. This is a measure of the variety possible with this kind of music.
We get a lot of variety at the Green Note. Maybe one time we should make everyone do the same standard in their set and see what that throws up. Maybe someone could suggest a song we all know or have access to and we could try that out to see if I’m right. Would, say, six or seven versions of the same song done by six or seven different singers and instrumental combinations get samey?
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We had good audiences for both nights and the event continues in its rather special way. As people who turn up know, or find out, it’s a jam and it’s not a jam. It’s a jam because people play together in ad hoc instrumental combinations without prior rehearsal, so spontaneity is the key. But it’s not like other jams, because people do short sets that sound like ‘proper’ acts that have been more or less sorted out beforehand. So it’s a cross between a jam and a gig and might best be
described as ‘an evening of spontaneous blues/roots music’.
The ‘house band’ isn’t a clearly defined ensemble, again unlike at other jams. Instead, it’s a number of fine musicians who I invite along to play with me at the start and finish and to be available to play with whoever asks them during the course of the evening. The number of these musicians can vary according to availability, and often reaches the dizzying heights of being 8 in number. The whole evening is improvised – nothing’s sorted out until I see who’s shown up.
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In August, unsurprisingly, the number of ‘house’ musicians was reduced, mostly by holiday, but this had no impact on the quality of what was laid out. I kicked off with a few of my originals, aided by Dave Forristal on keyboards and Phil Hughes on harmonica. I kicked off solo, did a couple just with Phil and then a couple with both Phil and Dave. This trio format wasn’t one we’ve had before, I don’t think, but again it worked really well, proving yet again that you can cook up all sorts of interesting things with any combination of people who can really play, as of course those two can.
We again had a mixture of stalwarts and first-timers. Barry Jackson was next up, with another excellent set, and he was followed by Phil’s mesmerising solo vocal and harmonica numbers, that never fail to hook an audience. There are two reasons for that: one, it’s highly unusual to see such a thing and two, it’s of the very highest class.
Next was Mark (failure to note surnames is another thing I need to address), a first-timer at the event. He provided yet another first in the history of the event – ukulele, which went down very well. He was followed by another ‘plough your own furrow’ merchant, Julian, whose set included an original that drew on the to most of us hitherto unknown dialect of the Isle of Man. Neither of the above sets is the sort of thing you tend to see very often but happily it’s what you get at Blues at Green Note.
Two more first-timers at the event, the guitar/harmonica duo of Ed Hopwood and Murray Hunter were next up, with their gentle and atmospheric takes on standards such as ‘Make me a pallet on your floor’ and ‘Sitting on top of the world’. Barry got up again then, with Stephen on harmonica and Mark on ukulele for a fun set and I then rounded things off with Barry on guitar and Phil on harp.
It was another excellent evening, a pretty packed house enjoying the typically varied fare, and this was followed by another fine, but again very different night last week.
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I’m going to make a confession here, which is that I’m not totally nuts about every sort of blues music or every sort of acoustic music. A barrage of earnest, yet oddly loud, singer/songwriters pummelling scratchy-sounding electro-acoustic guitars in a strumfest is likely to find me shifting uneasily in my seat. A remorseless onslaught of loud lead guitar solos, however good they are, is likely after a while to present me with will to live issues. It’s the sort of situation where you like everything about the music except the music itself.
Some of this is about variety. At a multi-act event, and I guess a jam or an open mic should be considered that, variety can turn what might otherwise be background music or an ordeal into a memorable event. The performers in question have to be pretty good of course, or at the very least interesting, however you define those things. But if they’ve all got something just a little bit different to offer, that helps too.
This doesn’t mean that everyone has to be doing their own material. What is generally known as roots music tends to encourage variety, especially in the acoustic department, because it encourages individuality. That’s got a lot to do with the fact that most of it is about songs – songs with tunes and memorable hooks and the like. Coupled with the fact these songs are essentially pretty simple musically, the individual performer can put their own stamp on them, turning their version into something different from others.
Take a staple like ‘Stagger Lee’ or ‘John Henry’. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the number of versions of these I have in my collection is well into double figures, and then I’m probably just scratching the surface. I’ve got pre-war versions, 50s versions, Dr John’s in the 70s and Eric Bibb’s this decade. Each one is different from the other in a way that covers of pop or rock songs never could be. This is a measure of the variety possible with this kind of music.
We get a lot of variety at the Green Note. Maybe one time we should make everyone do the same standard in their set and see what that throws up. Maybe someone could suggest a song we all know or have access to and we could try that out to see if I’m right. Would, say, six or seven versions of the same song done by six or seven different singers and instrumental combinations get samey?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We had good audiences for both nights and the event continues in its rather special way. As people who turn up know, or find out, it’s a jam and it’s not a jam. It’s a jam because people play together in ad hoc instrumental combinations without prior rehearsal, so spontaneity is the key. But it’s not like other jams, because people do short sets that sound like ‘proper’ acts that have been more or less sorted out beforehand. So it’s a cross between a jam and a gig and might best be
described as ‘an evening of spontaneous blues/roots music’.The ‘house band’ isn’t a clearly defined ensemble, again unlike at other jams. Instead, it’s a number of fine musicians who I invite along to play with me at the start and finish and to be available to play with whoever asks them during the course of the evening. The number of these musicians can vary according to availability, and often reaches the dizzying heights of being 8 in number. The whole evening is improvised – nothing’s sorted out until I see who’s shown up.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In August, unsurprisingly, the number of ‘house’ musicians was reduced, mostly by holiday, but this had no impact on the quality of what was laid out. I kicked off with a few of my originals, aided by Dave Forristal on keyboards and Phil Hughes on harmonica. I kicked off solo, did a couple just with Phil and then a couple with both Phil and Dave. This trio format wasn’t one we’ve had before, I don’t think, but again it worked really well, proving yet again that you can cook up all sorts of interesting things with any combination of people who can really play, as of course those two can.
We again had a mixture of stalwarts and first-timers. Barry Jackson was next up, with another excellent set, and he was followed by Phil’s mesmerising solo vocal and harmonica numbers, that never fail to hook an audience. There are two reasons for that: one, it’s highly unusual to see such a thing and two, it’s of the very highest class.
Next was Mark (failure to note surnames is another thing I need to address), a first-timer at the event. He provided yet another first in the history of the event – ukulele, which went down very well. He was followed by another ‘plough your own furrow’ merchant, Julian, whose set included an original that drew on the to most of us hitherto unknown dialect of the Isle of Man. Neither of the above sets is the sort of thing you tend to see very often but happily it’s what you get at Blues at Green Note.
Two more first-timers at the event, the guitar/harmonica duo of Ed Hopwood and Murray Hunter were next up, with their gentle and atmospheric takes on standards such as ‘Make me a pallet on your floor’ and ‘Sitting on top of the world’. Barry got up again then, with Stephen on harmonica and Mark on ukulele for a fun set and I then rounded things off with Barry on guitar and Phil on harp.
It was another excellent evening, a pretty packed house enjoying the typically varied fare, and this was followed by another fine, but again very different night last week.
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In September, the house musicians included David Atkinson on mandolin, and it was a very welcome reappearance from him. He got to do a lot of playing, and very good it was too. Mandolin has become one of the distinctive features of the night since we started and David’s really the reason why that started to be the case. He’s got a terrific style, sitting in behind to complement what’s going on up front when that’s required, and taking the lead in the most effective ways too.
Aside from David’s playing, there was another major highlight too. Phil Hughes and Will Greener got up for a harmonica and vocal duet, a quite breathtaking ver
sion of Jaybird Coleman’s ‘I’mgonna cross the river of Jordan some of these days’.
This is not to detract from the rest of what we had that night, in what was a very nicely varied evening’s entertainment. Barry Jackson kept the bar high with a set that included a solo number and two with mandolin and Dave Forristal’s constantly excellent keyboard playing. Graham Hinton kicked off with a Keb Mo number on his own and then numbers with Phil on harp, David on mandolin and Dave on piano. Graham’s set included an ambitious number of chord changes, which were professionally dealt with by the house musicians, ie they got most of them and ignored the others.
Peter Vardigans made a welcome return, again first number solo, then two with the ‘band’, playing a Kay that would romp home with the ‘oldest guitar’ in the room title at most jams, but may not have got on the podium at this one. Phil Hughes did his unique set next, including the aforementioned duet with Will, and then James Daniel and Chris, regulars at the event, put in another of their rousing appearances. Joined by David and Dave, they once again chose excellent, non-standard numbers to cover and covered them really well.
Will did a solo number and then I got up with him, David and Dave to round the evening off with ‘Hard Work’, which it hadn’t been. I’d also kicked things off, solo and with David, Dave and Phil with a few originals, including a duet with David on ‘Big Mary’s House’, where the National and mandolin combination sounded pretty damn good from where I was sitting.
Another fine evening, good audience, everyone listening and a serene atmosphere for this one. As in calm and enjoyable, that is .......
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The next one’s on Wednesday October 13th.
Musicians show up by 8 please.
Bring your friends, everyone.
Mark Harrison
This is not to detract from the rest of what we had that night, in what was a very nicely varied evening’s entertainment. Barry Jackson kept the bar high with a set that included a solo number and two with mandolin and Dave Forristal’s constantly excellent keyboard playing. Graham Hinton kicked off with a Keb Mo number on his own and then numbers with Phil on harp, David on mandolin and Dave on piano. Graham’s set included an ambitious number of chord changes, which were professionally dealt with by the house musicians, ie they got most of them and ignored the others.
Peter Vardigans made a welcome return, again first number solo, then two with the ‘band’, playing a Kay that would romp home with the ‘oldest guitar’ in the room title at most jams, but may not have got on the podium at this one. Phil Hughes did his unique set next, including the aforementioned duet with Will, and then James Daniel and Chris, regulars at the event, put in another of their rousing appearances. Joined by David and Dave, they once again chose excellent, non-standard numbers to cover and covered them really well.
Will did a solo number and then I got up with him, David and Dave to round the evening off with ‘Hard Work’, which it hadn’t been. I’d also kicked things off, solo and with David, Dave and Phil with a few originals, including a duet with David on ‘Big Mary’s House’, where the National and mandolin combination sounded pretty damn good from where I was sitting.
Another fine evening, good audience, everyone listening and a serene atmosphere for this one. As in calm and enjoyable, that is .......
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next one’s on Wednesday October 13th.
Musicians show up by 8 please.
Bring your friends, everyone.
Mark Harrison
