Jam session
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A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where
Jazz
One source for the phrase "jam session" came about in the 1920s when white and black musicians would congregate after their regular paying gigs to play the jazz they could not play in the "Paul Whiteman" style bands they played in. When Bing Crosby attended these sessions, the musicians would say he was "jammin' the beat," since he would clap on the one and the three. Thus these sessions became known as "jam sessions."[1] Mezz Mezzrow also gives this more detailed and self-referential description, based on his experience at the jazz speakeasy known as the Three Deuces:
I think the term 'jam session' originated right in that cellar. Long before that, of course, the colored boys used to get together and play for kicks, but those were mostly private sessions, strictly for professional musicians, and the idea was usually to try to cut each other, each one trying to outdo the others and prove himself best. Those impromptu concerts of theirs were generally known as 'cuttin' contests.' Our idea…was to play together, to make the improvisation really collective… Down in that basement concert hall, somebody was always yelling over to me, 'Hey Jelly, what you gonna do?'—they gave me that nickname, or sometimes called me Roll, because I always wanted to play Clarence Williams' '(I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None O' This) Jelly Roll'—and almost every time I'd cap them with, 'Jelly's gonna jam some now,' just as a kind of play on words. We always used the word 'session' a lot, and I think the expression 'jam session' grew up out of this playful yelling back and forth.[2]
The New York scene during World War II was famous for its after-hours jam sessions. One of the most famous was the regular after-hours jam at Minton's Playhouse in New York City that ran in the 1940s and early 1950s. The jam sessions at Minton's were a fertile meeting place and proving ground for both established soloists like Ben Webster and Lester Young as well as the younger jazz musicians who would soon become leading exponents of the bebop movement, including Thelonious Monk (Minton's house pianist), saxophone player Charlie Parker, and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. The Minton's jams had competitive "cutting contests," in which soloists would try to keep up with the house band and outdo each other in improvisational skill.[3]
Afro-Cuban music
Influenced by jazz,
Rock
As the instrumental proficiency of rock musicians improved in the 1960s and early 1970s, onstage jamming—free improvisation—also became a regular feature of rock music; bands such as
In this context, jams are not casual congregations, but rather improvised portions of rehearsed public set lists.
Jam bands
The
Bluegrass
Bluegrass music also features a tradition of jamming. Bluegrass jams happen in the parking lots and campgrounds of bluegrass festivals, in music stores, bars and restaurants and on stages. Bluegrass jams tend to be segregated by the skill level of the players. Slow jams for beginners provide an entry point. Open bluegrass jams are open to all comers, but the players in an open jam will expect a certain level of proficiency from participants. The abilities to hear chord progressions and keep time are essential, and the ability to play improvised leads that contain at least a suggestion of the melody is desirable. Jams that require advanced musical proficiency are generally private events, by invitation only.
Soulquarians
Members of the
According to music journalist Michael Gonzales, their sessions were marked by an experimentation with "dirty soul, muddy water blues,
Bilal held improvisatory jam sessions while recording his second album, Love for Sale, at Electric Lady, although its experimental direction alienated his label from releasing it, and a subsequent leak led to its indefinite shelving.[6] Common's similarly experimental Electric Circus sold disappointingly, which discouraged MCA Records, Common and the Roots' label, from letting the artistically-free environment at the studio to continue.[5]
In 2018, leading up to the
See also
- Jamming (dance)
- Free improvisation
- Free jazz
- Freestyle rap
- Scat singing
- Session musician and Irish traditional music session
References
- ^ "Really The Blues" by Mezz Mezzrow
- ^ "Really the Blues," Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow and Bernard Wolfe, New York: Random House 1946, p. 148
- ISBN 978-0-393-06861-0.
- ISBN 9780275966829.
- ^ a b c Gonzales, Michael (March 19, 2015). "Love, Peace and Soulquarians". soulhead. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ^ Reyes, Andres (Autumn 2010). "Cool on the Outside". Shook. No. 9. Retrieved August 19, 2020 – via Issuu.
- ^ Paine, Jake (January 30, 2018). "An New Video Shows The Rise Of The Soulquarians & Why Things Fell Apart". Ambrosia for Heads. Retrieved August 20, 2020.