Welcome to the Jazz Jams Club website.
To register with the club please go to the Kijiji ad then message John.
2024/May/10 Update:
Our first live jam since Covid was March 24th 2024 at Supreme Resaurant and Bar. These will be continuing the last
Sunday of every month if enough members participate on any particular month. However holdays at times change it to
the 2nd last Sunday. To see the most up to date times visit the table at the bottom, click the appropriate "Jam Prep
Page" button and view the information in the top right area. If you see a jam date the jam is still on. If you see "Needs
People" the jam has been cancelled. Please check this just before you leave for the jam. The three other Jam Prep
Pages which show on that table at the bottom, are currently inactive. I hope to get them active by September of 2024
depending on how quickly I can get my guitar playing back in shape.
Why the club was started:
I started playing at age 13, played (0 to 4 to 12) hours a day for 20 years, did a short stint at the Humber music
program then at age 32 I quit completely for 22 years. During that time I didn't even listen to music. At about age 54 I
connected with an old jamming buddy. He persuaded me for a year to start playing again then finally I picked up the
guitar. Six months later I had most of my skills back. Three of us wanted to jam and tried and tried but it never
happened so I started what is now called the "Jazz Jams Club" to make it happen. It is for fun and socializing mainly
but it is also to help people avoid quitting like I did for 22 years. If this club existed when I was young I would have
joined and never would have quit. I might have kept listening to records and buying them. So an indirect goal of this
club is to help the pros by keeping lesser musicians playing and listening to music and buying the records the pros
create.
Overview:
This is a Jazz Jams Social Club where both rusty and hot players/singers gather (normally at month end) to
perform/jam at least one song allowing them to also mingle with new and old friends while they watch & listen to others
in the group performing/jamming their songs. Even if 12 members initiated only one song each for the jam they would
most likely be joining in on other songs to play rhythm and/or solos but there is no requirement that they join in. The web
preplanning and its PDF file downloads allow any set of members in the group to join in on the songs even if they don't
have the lead sheet. Website preplanning also avoids wasting prime jam time on fake book searching. You might want
How the jams are organized:
One or two days after the last live jam, I email all members asking them to initiate one song only within a three day
dead line. After the 3 days I know how many are initiating songs so I ask the current song initiators to initiate an equal
number of extra songs to bring us up to 12 songs for the jam. First Come First Serve is used to deal with unequal
issues or I may initiate some songs. Once we have 12 songs I again email all members asking them to participate. So
while the club is active members who are not particiating get two emails a month. Members who are participating get
extra emails as required.
Jam Sharing:
All members are fair minded and share evenly. This applies in four areas.
Song Initiation: How this is done is explained in the prior section.
Solos: Most solo choruses are 32+ bars and each solost gets one chorus. For shorter chorus songs we increase the
number of solo choruses to reach the minimum 32 bars. In this situation it is easy to lose one's place so eye contact is
used for transition and we do not get upset if someone loses track and goes a bit over their allotted solo chorus count.
Large Instruments: Drums, Piano, Organ & Standup Bass are sometimes shared.
Stage Slots: We have room for 5 (6 gets a bit cozy). If more than 6 are participating they swap in/out across songs.
Learning the "Jam Prep Page" is easy now!
Club Members just want to play at a jam. They hate wasting prime jamming time doing the boring administrative work
of searching fake books for common songs we can play together. The web site "Jam Prep Page" allows you to do the
planning work before the jam. At first glance it scares some people but I have resolved this issue by strongly
encouraging new members to join me in a "Google-Meeting Screen-Share" learning session where I take them
through the "Jam Prep Page" and it's text quick start guide. If you don't have a webcam a phone meeting can act as a
substitute. Within 30 minutes you will have mastered the basics of sending me your jam participation info easily. An
The Jams Are Light And Fun:
This is a club where members play jazz standards like you use to hear more often on Jazz FM before they changed
their format. It's a club where your practice time is never wasted. I accomplish this as follows. Cancelled jams are
always made up with the same jam schedule. I learn at least rhythm on all the songs which are requested each month
and I bring out the equipment and join in even if we only have one person jamming that month (you never jam alone). I
also replace missing players with the highest quality .wav real recordings of real professional jazz musicians provided
by "Band In A Box" when appropriate. So far 21 have jammed along with BIAB backing tracks at our jams. Some see
it as a step up from playing alone at home with BIAB. I use BIAB to ensure that we start the song at the speed that
rusty players practiced at which also shows on the jam schedule. If we don't have a drummer BIAB ensures we hold
speed. It prevents embarassing speed up surprises that have at least once knocked out the closing melody. If we have
a drummer BIAB counts us in but I normally mute all BIAB instruments. This encourages us all to hold good speed
since I can tell if we changed speed. It is good for some laughs as a drummer friend who sometimes comes out loves
a razz :-) He is pretty good at holding speed so he treats it as a game and doesn't take it seriously. The jams are light
& always fun. We have had 2 jams with 6 participating and 3 friends attending. To see the many other advantages of
coming out such as not needing an amp click this link.
The minimum playing level (rusty is okay) :
I am no longer limiting club membership to just rusty players/singers. Hot players/singers are now encouraged to join.
However we hope members can get through one or more songs without getting lost most times. Getting lost every so
often is okay. Regarding mistakes I encourage members to shoot for my rusty standard at home before joining the jam.
When practicing for the jam I test myself with BIAB. If I go over 3 minor mistakes in each of (melody, solos, rhythm or
comping) I keep repeating until I can get through once with zero mistakes. That is no guaranteed I can play it with only 3
mistakes at the jam. If I perform too far below this standard I will re-record a segment of my part with reverb to let you
know it is okay to occasionally go below this standard at the jam while at the same time I want the recording to be
reasonably enjoyable (jammers get a copy of the recordings - none attending members hear it on SoundCloud).
Everyone expects everyone else to not be perfect. We try our best but laugh at our imperfections. It's very relaxed as
these member comments show. However now that I am accepting hot players/singers including gig seeking drummers
might even get groups of hot players forming at the jam having a friendly BIAB game competition like friends get
together to compete at golf. That sounds like fun to me :-)