10/23/22: Vudu Blues Jamz

Zzzen Dog

Blues Junior
Okay, the Vudu Blues Jam is still on, Sunday October 23rd. Details are below:

And here is an invite to get an idea of who will be showing up. Please include your Forum User Name, if you have one.


Vudu Jamz
Saturday, October 23rd, 12 to 4pm.

Summit Rehearsal Studios
2016 Lincoln Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91103

Initial Song List
(I'm) Tore Down - Clapton version
Red House - Hendrix version
Crossroads - Cream version
The Thrill is Gone - BB King
Stormy Monday - Allman Brothers version
Voodoo Chile - SRV

The songs above are guaranteed to be played, and we'll figure out the rest there.

My instructor will be covering drums and I'll be handling some if not all bass duties, unless someone wants to spell me for a while (surely appreciated - as I'm a bit of a newbie on the bass, and I wouldn't mind getting on the guitar for one or two songs).
 

Elio

Student Of The Blues
I'm looking forward to this one, and I will be happy to bring along my bass for a few songs if needed.
 

Dr. Ron

Nuthin’ But The Blues!
I’m glad you guys had fun. The group size is my favorite. I had it on my calendar , but I was kept guessing by a possible family visit who gave it 75% chance he would be in town to see me on the day of Jerome’s jam. Final confirmation came on Saturday. Hope to make the next one.
 
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Zzzen Dog

Blues Junior
Well it was a thin showing to be sure... almost everyone cancelled last minute and we had some scheduling conflicts with the rehearsal studio. But we did get a trio going though. Kyle, my guitar instructor sat in on drums and vocals, I handled most of the bass duties and our own Elio came in with guitar and harmonica.

We wound up just working on a few songs in the trio format, got them roughed out and recorded them. Once I get those I'll post them up.

Songs played:

- Red House - G: Elio; B: Jerome (aka Zzzen Dog); D/V: Kyle
- Stormy Monday - G: Elio; B: Jerome; D/V: Kyle
- The Thrill is Gone - G: Elio; B: Jerome; D/V: Kyle
- I'm Tore Down - G: Jerome; B: Elio; D/V: Kyle
- Born in Chicago - H: Elio; B: Jerome; D/V: Kyle

Summary of performances:

- Elio held down both rhythm and lead duties well, and his soloing over the Stormy Monday changes was particularly inspired.
- Kyle handled drums really well, especially given that his main instruments are guitar and voice. He also provided us with context and ideas for
addressing endings, timing of intros, and helped both Elio and I when we'd get stuck on a part.
- Think I held down the bass groove, though I did have a few fumbles here and there... but not bad for two months playing time. My guitar
playing would be characterized as sparks of brilliance amongst the shyte, my timing and phrasing were both horribly off. All good though,
I was focusing on bass, just need to balance out my practice schedules for both instruments

Takeaways:​

As a first time co-organizer of a blues jam, there were a number of things that I'd do differently to make things run more smoothly and to ensure a better turn out. And also some general observations:
- Reservations: Confirm twice. A reservation was made for October 23rd, noon, but low and behold when we arrived wasn't scheduled. In the
future, book the room, confirm booking a month out, re-confirm two to three days before.
- Attendance: Need a better solution for RSVPing than Evite. Also need engagement, or skin in the game. I'm thinking a buy in to help defray
the cost of the room. Maybe have some bottled water on hand that kind of thing.
- Load In/Out: Watched the previous band that was booked in the rehearsal studio load out. Both guitarists and the bassist took multiple trips,
with a cart to get all their gear out. Made me tired just looking at them. I brought a bass, guitar, my Quad Cortex modeller, a Headrush 108
powered speaker, and all the miscellaneous cabling and other stuff I needed. One trip. If I can find a double instrument case that can handle
both my bass and guitar, it'd be even easer.
- Song Book: Based on some information provided by Kyle, I think I'm going to start a basic song book with lead sheets and lyrics, along with
any useful notes. Start to build it in PDF format and make it available to participants once I've got enough built up in it. Help folks prepare.
 

TexBill

Blues in Texas
@Zzzen Dog thanks for posting details of the event. Hope for a better turn out and booking results. That must have been frustrating,

@Elio , way to help out a friend. I detect a little admiration on the part of Zzzen Dog and a huge load of gratitude.
 

Zzzen Dog

Blues Junior
@Elio , way to help out a friend. I detect a little admiration on the part of Zzzen Dog and a huge load of gratitude.
Truth! Elio ushered me in to the whole Blues Jam world back in August of this year, down in the OC. He was welcoming and gracious. Decided to get a jam going locally, and he gave me a lot of great advice. Elio was also the inspiration for my picking up the bass. He got to play the entire afternoon in August with a couple turns at guitar and harmonica. There were six other guitarists who had to rotate in and out and I thought... if I want playing time, expanding what I can do is a boon. So yeah, I've got respect for @Elio!
 

Elio

Student Of The Blues
Truth! Elio ushered me in to the whole Blues Jam world back in August of this year, down in the OC. He was welcoming and gracious. Decided to get a jam going locally, and he gave me a lot of great advice. Elio was also the inspiration for my picking up the bass. He got to play the entire afternoon in August with a couple turns at guitar and harmonica. There were six other guitarists who had to rotate in and out and I thought... if I want playing time, expanding what I can do is a boon. So yeah, I've got respect for @Elio!
Thanks for the nice words, Z! I think your list is a really good set of key success factors for a good jam. Scheduling and estimating the turnout is about hardest thing. I have had massive groups which have needed two rooms, down to just a small handful of players. Fortunately, it always ends up being a lot of fun. One suggestion is something that I have failed to do lately, which is to offer a few alternative day/time combinations and poll everyone. When I do that, I tend to get better turnouts since I can pick the optimal date. I usually use the NeedToMeet site for that, and it works reasonably well.

I really had fun playing with you guys and really appreciated Kyle's approach. I'm happy to attend any time you do it again.
 
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