August 3 2006 Jam

Wow! It’s already August and the fireweed is almost at the top of the bloom… all too soon we’ll have “Termination Dust” dusting the tops of the mountains… I was hoping to hear Lisa Good, our scheduled host jammer, sing her beautiful original song by the same name, but a death in the family has postponed her guest host jammer appearance. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Lisa and Rex in their time of sorrow.

The jam began with Jam Master Hammer on acoustic guitar and vocals, Paul on harp, Pat Rat on bass, Cuba on congas, and Dean Reeves, our guest drummer on drums. We began the night with a John Prine trio and Michelle, our perennial tambourine player contemplating joining in with her assortment of kitchen implements. John A. stepped up to the stage to folk us out with his quartet of folk tunes and Loren Arment joined in with some tasty harmony notes. John’s sister from the Midwest has been “sitting in” as a professional audience member for a few weeks and leaves us this week. Safe travels back home, thank you for your support!

Set two harkened back to Jam Master Hammer’s solo days, with Matt soloing on John Prine’s, “There once was a man who was going insane…” off of John’s new Fair & Square CD. Great music on this CD, folks, and we’re bound to eventually learn them all! Loren Arment stepped to the stage on vocals and acoustic guitar, Pat Rat on bass, Paul on harp, and Cuba on congas. A little trip down memory lane with “Mrs. Robinson” a la Arment & Hammer. “Teach Your Children” and “Helplessly Hoping” brought ‘Special’ Ed on electric guitar, Dean on drums, Paul, and Penny Arment (with Penny acknowledging all too soon that summer would be over and she would be teaching your children) on harmony vocals to the stage. Matt was now in fine form playing in his own personal “sandbox.” A request from the audience brought Loren to the mic on lead vocals on John Prine’s “Spanish Pipe Dream” or as it’s better known, “Blow up the TV”… “Save the Whales” and Loren’s original song, “Walking with my Baby” brought this segment to a close.

Another new jammer, Ed Grantier, aka “Driver’s Ed” and his dos keyboards stepped downwind of mainstage, joined by ‘Special’ Ed, Texas Jimmy D. on electric, and Kyle on sax with Loren, Matt, Dean, Pat, and Paul. A trip to “Tupelo Honey” with Loren singing the sweet, sweet harmony notes with that “human voice” of his that is oh so sweet. It’s a real treat when Loren comes out to play in the sandbox. The melding of the Arment/Hammer voices creates a distinctive sound that only the Arment and the Hammer voices, together, can produce. A little shuffle down to the tune of “T-Bone Shuffle” and Penny and Michelle joined the jammers for a little “Boys of Summer.” Great harmony, Pen!

Jam Night would not happen without the ever-present Dan on sound. The musicians come and go all night long, sometimes changing every song - what a challenge Dan has, making the right sound adjustments every time. With Dan at the back of the room buried in sound and light boards many people don't see him - but Matt makes sure to point him out to the audience a couple of times every Jam Night. Matt and Dan work closely together beforehand and all night long, as different musicians come and go - sometimes up to 30 musicians! Jam Night only sounds as good as its sound man does his job. Thanks Dan!

Jimmy D, Ed, Dean, Kyle, Matt, Pat, Tom Lambert on the Hammond B3 organ, Moe on keyboard, Cuba and Paul played “Steamroller Blues.” Matt led jammers into “Wonderful Tonight” and jammers then slipped into a sweet instrumental number.

Matt jumped into “Some Things are Never Gonna Change” with a daughter (on clarinet) and Hammer (on vocals) backup.

Matt sometimes says: "If you're having fun, let your face know it". As you can see, Matt practices what he preaches.

Jimmy D launched into his own beautiful original, “Time Will Get You.”

Kyle (The Kid) and Matt. Matt is really looking past Kyle, at Matt's wife Lona, as you can see from the next picture, below:

‘Special’ Ed sang, in his big daddy voice, “All of Me.”

And I (Lona) took jammers on a quick trip south to “Atlanta”.

Shout-Outs

A happy birthday to our very special tambourine and kitchen implements musician, Michelle, and all too soon another night of jamming at the North Slope came to a close.

A special thank you goes out to Steve, our perennial audience member, who is now assisting with jam blog, website photos and maintenance. Thank you Steve for sharing your expertise!

A special thank you goes out to Dan, our solid soundman, on sound and soul. He’s got his fingers on the heartbeat of the jam. Thank you Dan for your spectacular sound mixing.

A special thank you also goes out to John A. for all of his support, pictures, recordings, and miscellaneous assistance and support for all of these many months!

And a very special thank you to all you audience members and jammers out there who have helped make this jam a success!

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