The More things change...

A review of the Jam Session 13th August

In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose “. Of course, had he lived that long, he wouldn't be saying it now - which proves my point. Possibly.

But I digress: mainly because memories of the last Jam Session remain satisfyingly indistinct. We started with the MJJ Annual General Meeting (losing money at the usual rate, discussed what went wrong, determined to do it all again). Then the session...

Around eighteen musos turned up, with the customary guitar only session to start. The original intent of this now regular feature was to give the string twangers a bit of free rein, in the vague hope that they would then leave the rest of us alone. Doesn't happen, of course.

For the first time, more or less, the guitars sounded really good, (and we should also mention Mike on bass) with a balanced sound and some creative playing. and the three tune opener set the tone for what turned out to be an entertaining session all round. Entertaining? - that should practically guarantee a debacle this week.

The rest of the session was mainly given over to singers, - seven of them all reading this article in the hope of seeing their name in print. Audience wise, it was a mildly crowded house.Yet again, quite a good turn out of locals to listen in, and some positive comments on the music.

In terms of numbers, the sessions seem to have settled around 17 to 20 musos per week. I rather think the quality of the music being played has gone up a tad. It is a dangerous precedent to set, but we will probably manage expectations by being truly abysmal some time soon.

Toodlepip!