Congratulations to everyone who came last night to Bluegrass & Beyond for giving our last jam of the year such a warm, communal evening.
Tony even bought me a whiskey at the end of the evening to toast the great last year (and he doesn't even like me!).
We had both sets of Scotts and Steves, Zubie was there in fine form (representing for the 19th Century), Izzy and Brenda came for the first time in a year (I wonder if she ever found that pick?), Danny was in from Israel, Liz showed up again (taking a hiatus from the old-time scene) and, as I mentioned before, Mr. T and I decided to finally bury the hatchet (luckily for me, he missed...). And we had a quite appreciative full bar which didn't hurt the atmosphere any.
Where to begin? Perhaps with changes at Patty's itself. Since the last blog, we've lost our favorite bartender Eileen (although Steve M. would argue this back in London) - to the world of 9 to 5. In her place, we've welcomed her friend Chris, who seems to be enjoying himself working both of the Paddy's bluegrass jams - even threatening to bring own "ax" (I think he saw Tony's hatchet)!
This jam really had a nice feel to it... Starting with AJ's version of "Merry Christmas From The Family" by Robert Earl Keen, and ending with Scotty Claus passing around a beautiful, quiet instrumental version of "Silent Night".
In between, a smattering of holiday tunes, (Scotty's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree", Steve's "Blue Christmas", Craig's version of Dar Williams' "The Christians and the Pagens" and John Prine's "Christmas in Prison" from Lynn) along with Judy's home-baked holiday cookies and Steve's CDs (all left over from Tony's Sunday jam) made for a festive jam with a quirky twist.
Oh, and the hats... Danny (probably because he was wearing one!) wanted me to mention the hats. Quite a collection last night, young Steve, Danny, mystery banjo man (Steve's friend, looking like Bela Fleck noir on his "Drive" CD cover), and Cynthia (not to mention Sarah, who had just bought a new hat earlier that day, and probably should have left it on for the jam) all were playing in style. Did I miss anyone?
(Oh, no... I'm having a vision of Scotty in one of those organ grinder monkey's fez hats with the tassel playing "Sweet Georgia Brown").
Zubie, making a rare appearance, was on fire last night (even prompting a brief imitation from Scotty - nobody gets that!). He did three numbers, one of which was #4 in 1830 I think he said, but he made one mistake - "Down Yonder" is definitely from the very early 20th Century. Tony liked that one.
Zubie left with some reflective remarks about last year, and promised that next year "would be the best ever"!
Tony (once the MNF game ended... about the 2nd quarter) gave us Steve Goodman's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name". (I'm not sure he knows my name either, because he does call me a lot of other things...).
Izzy and Brenda were a big hit with "West Virginia" from Hazel Dickens and "Green Pastures" (a request from Jeanne). We'll take those two anytime we can get them (and the parking meters allow).
Danny tried Django's "Minor Swing" but I think one of the ropes broke, 'cause that swing came falling down quick. Keep it up big guy, we're always looking for new stuff at B & B! (Sarah and I were ready for a little "jazz manouche", having just listened to Rudolphe Rafalli in a nightclub in Paris last week). Hey, but you did have a great hat!
Speaking of crashing and burning, Liz (at our request) tried a unique three-part version of "Cumberland Gap". We should be careful what we wish for, I think we made it through two of the parts pretty well - though we never quite made it through that final "Gap". Sorry, Liz - we're like the Donner party of old-time here at Bluegrass & Beyond.
Jeanne brought a couple of traditional old-time fiddle tunes as well.
Tony even bought me a whiskey at the end of the evening to toast the great last year (and he doesn't even like me!).
We had both sets of Scotts and Steves, Zubie was there in fine form (representing for the 19th Century), Izzy and Brenda came for the first time in a year (I wonder if she ever found that pick?), Danny was in from Israel, Liz showed up again (taking a hiatus from the old-time scene) and, as I mentioned before, Mr. T and I decided to finally bury the hatchet (luckily for me, he missed...). And we had a quite appreciative full bar which didn't hurt the atmosphere any.
Where to begin? Perhaps with changes at Patty's itself. Since the last blog, we've lost our favorite bartender Eileen (although Steve M. would argue this back in London) - to the world of 9 to 5. In her place, we've welcomed her friend Chris, who seems to be enjoying himself working both of the Paddy's bluegrass jams - even threatening to bring own "ax" (I think he saw Tony's hatchet)!
This jam really had a nice feel to it... Starting with AJ's version of "Merry Christmas From The Family" by Robert Earl Keen, and ending with Scotty Claus passing around a beautiful, quiet instrumental version of "Silent Night".
In between, a smattering of holiday tunes, (Scotty's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree", Steve's "Blue Christmas", Craig's version of Dar Williams' "The Christians and the Pagens" and John Prine's "Christmas in Prison" from Lynn) along with Judy's home-baked holiday cookies and Steve's CDs (all left over from Tony's Sunday jam) made for a festive jam with a quirky twist.
Oh, and the hats... Danny (probably because he was wearing one!) wanted me to mention the hats. Quite a collection last night, young Steve, Danny, mystery banjo man (Steve's friend, looking like Bela Fleck noir on his "Drive" CD cover), and Cynthia (not to mention Sarah, who had just bought a new hat earlier that day, and probably should have left it on for the jam) all were playing in style. Did I miss anyone?
(Oh, no... I'm having a vision of Scotty in one of those organ grinder monkey's fez hats with the tassel playing "Sweet Georgia Brown").
Zubie, making a rare appearance, was on fire last night (even prompting a brief imitation from Scotty - nobody gets that!). He did three numbers, one of which was #4 in 1830 I think he said, but he made one mistake - "Down Yonder" is definitely from the very early 20th Century. Tony liked that one.
Zubie left with some reflective remarks about last year, and promised that next year "would be the best ever"!
Tony (once the MNF game ended... about the 2nd quarter) gave us Steve Goodman's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name". (I'm not sure he knows my name either, because he does call me a lot of other things...).
Izzy and Brenda were a big hit with "West Virginia" from Hazel Dickens and "Green Pastures" (a request from Jeanne). We'll take those two anytime we can get them (and the parking meters allow).
Danny tried Django's "Minor Swing" but I think one of the ropes broke, 'cause that swing came falling down quick. Keep it up big guy, we're always looking for new stuff at B & B! (Sarah and I were ready for a little "jazz manouche", having just listened to Rudolphe Rafalli in a nightclub in Paris last week). Hey, but you did have a great hat!
Speaking of crashing and burning, Liz (at our request) tried a unique three-part version of "Cumberland Gap". We should be careful what we wish for, I think we made it through two of the parts pretty well - though we never quite made it through that final "Gap". Sorry, Liz - we're like the Donner party of old-time here at Bluegrass & Beyond.
Jeanne brought a couple of traditional old-time fiddle tunes as well.
Scotty led a nice version of "Dixie Breakdown".
As for the co-hosts (and Sarah), we all pandered to the bar crowd - rocking with "Friend Of The Devil" and "You Ain't Going Nowhere" (AJ), "So Far Away" and "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" (Sarah), and "That's All Right Mama" and the yodeling "Honky Tonk Woman" (Dave).
Cynthia only did one song, Dylan's "Buckets of Rain" - but that was enough to earn her a rare Scotty outburst of joy at her picking prowess on her break.
Scott #2 and Steve #2 went Bluegrass And Beyond with "Sophronie" and "Dead Flowers" respectively. Steve is a great flat-picker, especially on the rock numbers - and Scott will eternally be on my good side for bringing into B & B the Delmore Brothers' "The Word Broadminded Is Spelled S-I-N".
Happy Holidays to all from AJ, "Banjo" Mike, Bill, Sarah and Dave, and see you next year.
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