Thursday, August 10, 2006

August 10 2006 Jam

Where’s Doc’o? Back in Chico, amigos…packin’…

An apology to Dean Reeves on the spelling of his name…it’s Dean Reaves…sorry Dean!

And for those of you jammers who venture out to other music venues to “perform” as professional audience members, boy did we have fun at the Mat-Su Resort this Saturday night. Dean Reaves and Special Ed joined us at this venue. Many thanks to all of you Matt Hammer Band fans who joined us at this new Wasilla venue. The Resort has recently been purchased by the Great Bear Brewing Company and is already making their mark on this old Alaskan landmark.

Enough of the commercial moment,… now, for something completely different…back to the blog.



Set one started out with a new John Prine tune with Jam Master Hammer on acoustic guitar. This tune is destined to be a John Prine classic, it’s called, “I Hate It When That Happens to Me.”

Jam Master Hammer brought up the core band: Paul on harp, Lona on harmony vocals, Pat Rat on bass, Gary Price on drums, and added a dash of Cuba on congas and Special Ed and his electric guitar. Matt led the band into John Prine’s “Long Monday” and his “Glory of True Love”. Lona sang John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” and then we moved south to Key West and Jam Master Hammer sailed into Jimmy Buffet’s “Son of a Son of a Sailor.”



John A., our #1 jammer, slipped up main stage and sang folk classics, “Chilly Winds,” “Worried Man” and “Greenback Dollar”. Jam Master Hammer rounded out the set with his original song entitled, “One More Song.” Watch for this one to come out on CD sometime this millennium… hopefully this year!



Set two brought several seasoned jammers to the stage. Texas Jimmy D. on his superb electric guitar, Butch aka Mr. Metronome on drums, young Kyle on sax, with Pat, Paul, Cuba, Ed, and Lona. Big kudos go out to Dan, our favorite soundman! Jam Master Hammer led the band into, “For What It’s Worth”, “T-Bone Shuffle” aka I Love to Sing (and we do!)



Lona sang “Atlanta” an Alison Krauss tune and the lick players were tremendous, one and all walking up the half-step scale together in harmony. Wow, that was sweet, sweet!







"Sax Mom" is always there to support her son Kyle, one of the finest sax musicians there are; she always takes a few pictures of Kyle and the band every Jam.



There just isn't any room onstage for Cuba's congo drums, so he and sometimes other musicians too sit in front of the stage.



Another quick/change brought Bob Parson on electric guitar to the stage and the audience was treated to Bob’s original musical instrumental musings. Nice music for the soul…



The last set brought Jam Master Hammer back to the stage, Mike, Special Ed, Lona, Pat, Paul Tom, Cuba and Steve on drums. Steve Stanford is another new North Slope jammer. A big welcome to you, Steve!



Jam Master Hammer led jammers into “Tupelo Honey,” Matt’s original, “Some Things Are Never Gonna Change” with super licks from our superb jammers, and Matt’s own tingly rendition of “Summertime.” At this time of year this one always gets us a bit teary-eyed. Special Ed then stepped to the mic to sing, “Flip, Flap, and Fly”.



Jimmy D then launched into that swingy, shufflely, original tune, “Since My Baby Can’t Be Found” and he left the planet for a moment and forgot where he was. Wow! This was a fun one.

Another quick/change brought Mike Kovacevic on electric, Tom Lambert on the Hammond organ, as Special Ed slipped into professional audience mode. Jimmy D led jammers into “What’s Going On” and another original tune entitled, “Runaway Love.” We love it when jammers bring their original material to the stage.

Ah Ms. Rachel Rae slipped in on us, she could dance in the corner but she couldn’t hide. She hit the stage, dancing, and led jammers into “Bit By Bit” and her own special soulful rendition of “Stormy Monday.” We had dancers on the dance floor, we had a conga convention hosted by Cuba at his congas, we had Jam Master Hammer licking out on mando, as Rachel led jammers, dancers, and the audience into the last song of the night, “Me and Bobbie McGee.” Great job by all jammers, great fun was had by all!

Movies


Please forgive the video quality; these were taken quite unprofessionally with a tiny digital still camera. But Jam night is more about audio than video, so enjoy!
Kyle Solo on Sax

Rachel Rae 1

Rachel Rae 2

Rachel Rae 3

Shout-Outs


Our best wishes go out to the “Walmart Women” those hard working, flash-dancing, free-spirited, dancers of the night. What a treat to just see folks having a good time, listening to good music, all night long! Thank you for your support!






Featuring... Jessica!


You'll find Jessica behind the bar or out amoung the tables, but look quickly; she does get around. This week we send an especially big "Thanks" to Jessica, our ultimate Bartendress...:









Live long, love much, laugh often… and play music!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home