Nov. 16, 2009 Jam

Hello There,


We're ready to usher in the holiday season with a special bang this Monday, Nov. 30th, 7:30, at Paddy Reilly's Pub (SW corner of 2nd and 29th).


Co-host Bill and I are pleased to announce from this jam onward, our old friend A.J. Bender will become the third leg of the bar stool that we call Bluegrass & Beyond. 


He'll help lessen Bill's jam responsibilities by bringing his talents as song leader to the early part of each evening's festivities, thus, allowing Bill to finally get some rest and a dinner break before picking up the slack later on as he always has.


By bringing their combined talents to bear, Bill and A.J. should keep the jam infused with loads of creative energy for the upcoming future. I'd bring my talents to bear as well, if I could only locate them - I must have left them at the zoo. (Make a note - bear jokes never work, do they?)


I like to think of the age-old adage, the sum becomes greater than the individual parts. Think of Athos, Porthos and Aramis ("All for one, and one for all"), or, Moe, Larry and Curly ("Whoo, whoo, whoo...). All right skip that last image...


We're thinking of revising the jam poster to show a wing-ed A.J. floating down from above - a beer in his hand with an out-strectched finger, a la Michelangelo.


Enough already.


Last jam, we saved the best for last - a quadruple Merle! Yes, four in a row... Andrew's "Big City", Sarah's "Sing Me Back Home" and A.J.'s "Mama Tried" and "Okie From Muskogee".


Not to be outdone, Jon and I were immediately inspired to follow with a Double Lyle... "If I Had A Boat" and "Cowboy Man". Bluegrass & Beyond... Lovett or leave it!


Our perennial favorite, Scotty, came up with "Blue Suede Shoes" and Elton John's "Social Disease" - or, as he prefaced it: "the closest Elton ever came to bluegrass". Right, Scotty, beam me up there with you, wherever you hang out...


Karen returned with some new material from an old source - Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door".


A.J. (perhaps trying to impress us as a future co-host) came up with a Carter Family song that was news to me "March Winds Will Blow My Blues All Away".


Deborah brought out a traditional fiddle tune that I used to hear in the 70's often on hammered dulcimer "Over The Waterfall", and Lynn, before heading off to New Orleans gave us the Animals version of "House Of The Rising Sun". Or, as we say in New York,  the Animals version of the Bob Dylan version of Dave Van Ronk's arrangement of...


Van Ronk's name reminds me of ("Green, Green Rocky Road") Gary, who brought in Jimmy Martin's "Mr. Engineer". 


Co-host Bill got a little wild with The Troggs' "Wild Thing" - he must have thought that he was back in his parent's garage on Long Island, plugging in for the first time.


My wife, Sarah, pulled out an obscure, but absolutely great song from the J J Shultz Band called "Speed Train".


In our own revival of the the John Guare play, I got to perform Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down A Dream" with "California" Ray - a mere 2 or 3 degrees of separation, since he's married into Del Shannon's family. Now, if only Ray knew the song (He's like: "I didn't know Del was mentioned in that song!"). Well, at least he didn't start playing "Bill Cheatum" in the middle of it like he did at Grey Fox.


(Ouch, that's low... he's gonna get you, Dave).


See you Monday, and A.J. - 7:30 sharp (I may be in disguise to avoid Ray).


Bill, enjoy your first dinner at home!