art of the jam 21
while somewhat abbreviated (due to a james hinkle-ponty bone rehearsal that preceded it and some equipment problems during the second set), this week's jam featured a broader spectrum of players 'n' styles than the wreck room has seen in a few wednesday nights.
new jammers included goodwin / underground railroad bassist matt hembree and fingerstyle blues artiste dru webber (whose thursday night solo thang at fred's is not to be missed). also on hand were hinkle (who confided, "the last three hours were _work_; this is _fun_" before taking the jam stage) on gtr and vox, damien stewart on drums, and the usual "impulse of will" suspects (jam-meister lee allen on bass, joe "drumzilla" cruz, and me on gtr).
instead of having one massive clusterfuck (or sublime gestalt opportunity, depending on how you look at it), lee elected to showcase the jammers in a number of different configurations. first came a two-gtr blues quartet of webber, hinkle, allen and stewart (wherein dru demonstrated that it's possible, indeed sometimes _necessary_, for the spirits of john lee hooker, slim harpo, and black ace to inhabit the body of a gangling redheaded whiteguy who plays and sings the electrified delta blues with plenty-plenty grit and soul). next up was a fonky quintet (hinkle, hembree, stewart, allen, and me) that essayed a land-speed-record "chameleon" and a "cissy strut" with a hinkle solo that was an object lesson in dynamics, a kinda "tension-and-release 101." sans hinkle, the same musos (with and without allen) proceeded to "pull some reggae out of our asses" courtesy of bob marley and sally majestic. (note to matt: i _just_ thought of the countermelodies i should have been playing on "stir it up.") hembree showed off some fonkier chops than he usually gets to flaunt with his _real_ bands, and his presence allowed lee's 6-string bass to function as another lead gtr. before the break, the gtrist from transplanted seattle alt-rockers dogs with sticks got up and lit some trio fires with hembree and cruz.
during the second set, "standing on the verge of getting it on" had to be aborted when lee had amp (actually cord, he said later) probs -- a disappointment for me 'cos there were latin express ppl in the house, but prolly just lee's rig rebelling against having had to play the toon _three_ times the previous week. feh. in my own setup, there must be a 9-volt or two fixin' to give up the ghost, because the controllable harmonic feedback was really happenin' on my other fave toon, "maggot brain." webber joined in for a "manic depression" that almost came off the rails before jam-meister lee jumped in on vox to salvage it. dru finished things out with steppenwolf's "the pusher" -- a little biker-rock to cap off an evening of blues, funk, reggae, and gtr dementia. my sweetie and i were home by 1:30 -- proof positive (as if any more were needed) that just enough is never too much. i can't wait to do it all again next week.
new jammers included goodwin / underground railroad bassist matt hembree and fingerstyle blues artiste dru webber (whose thursday night solo thang at fred's is not to be missed). also on hand were hinkle (who confided, "the last three hours were _work_; this is _fun_" before taking the jam stage) on gtr and vox, damien stewart on drums, and the usual "impulse of will" suspects (jam-meister lee allen on bass, joe "drumzilla" cruz, and me on gtr).
instead of having one massive clusterfuck (or sublime gestalt opportunity, depending on how you look at it), lee elected to showcase the jammers in a number of different configurations. first came a two-gtr blues quartet of webber, hinkle, allen and stewart (wherein dru demonstrated that it's possible, indeed sometimes _necessary_, for the spirits of john lee hooker, slim harpo, and black ace to inhabit the body of a gangling redheaded whiteguy who plays and sings the electrified delta blues with plenty-plenty grit and soul). next up was a fonky quintet (hinkle, hembree, stewart, allen, and me) that essayed a land-speed-record "chameleon" and a "cissy strut" with a hinkle solo that was an object lesson in dynamics, a kinda "tension-and-release 101." sans hinkle, the same musos (with and without allen) proceeded to "pull some reggae out of our asses" courtesy of bob marley and sally majestic. (note to matt: i _just_ thought of the countermelodies i should have been playing on "stir it up.") hembree showed off some fonkier chops than he usually gets to flaunt with his _real_ bands, and his presence allowed lee's 6-string bass to function as another lead gtr. before the break, the gtrist from transplanted seattle alt-rockers dogs with sticks got up and lit some trio fires with hembree and cruz.
during the second set, "standing on the verge of getting it on" had to be aborted when lee had amp (actually cord, he said later) probs -- a disappointment for me 'cos there were latin express ppl in the house, but prolly just lee's rig rebelling against having had to play the toon _three_ times the previous week. feh. in my own setup, there must be a 9-volt or two fixin' to give up the ghost, because the controllable harmonic feedback was really happenin' on my other fave toon, "maggot brain." webber joined in for a "manic depression" that almost came off the rails before jam-meister lee jumped in on vox to salvage it. dru finished things out with steppenwolf's "the pusher" -- a little biker-rock to cap off an evening of blues, funk, reggae, and gtr dementia. my sweetie and i were home by 1:30 -- proof positive (as if any more were needed) that just enough is never too much. i can't wait to do it all again next week.
posted by stashdauber at 8:11 PM
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