The Wicker Basket

Jam session review for 6th October

Every now and then, the wicker basket lowered from the management level to the extra 3b Reserve Copyboy (Bendigo Towers, basement level at best) is entirely empty, or the string broke on the way down. On  such occasions, we are left to ponder the nature of a jam session: who turns up, and fergawdsake, why. If Autumn Leaves, why does it keep coming back, and did we just play Summertime due to a surfeit of irony and a chill wind whipping round the doors; and can anyone think of a reason why we should not include Georgia on My Mind in what has become a rather long sentence, but one which includes the titles of the three commonest jazz standards?

It is high time I digressed: perhaps a developing feature of the current Jam Sessions is the increasing propensity  of musos to launch out into something they haven't played before, and make sense of it. Perhaps  this approach has always been around, and that may have much to do with the enduring appeal of jamming, with all its trainwrecks, glitches, and happy accidents, rather than the careful reproduction of a considered piece to a level of accuracy that approaches that of a cassette tape. Ho hum.

Pick of the saxes, Laurie turned up with his Bari, didn't play Sugar, and gave way to Keef, Calamatta and Harris who collectively swapped some fine riffs of their own. Russ, Richard, Ash and Bruce  swapped around on drums, Phil played some blues, Mr Curtis elegant as ever, Malcolm ditto, Jane sang the best she has in quite a while, and Steve on violin took advantage of a break in the guitar accompaniment to really swing. And of the guitars, Mike, Roger and Neville all soloed beautifully (see title above).

Meanwhile, back at the Bar,  still no Carlton Daft, and an interesting convo with Chrissie Manetta - whose brains will be picked for the next Festival De Nieuport.

The  Good Captain had an easier day of it, nothing got broken and nobody died, so we we all went home suitably inspired.