It's the best time of year to be a jazz fan: For the next few weeks, Canada will be treated to the crme de la crme of the international jazz scene, playing at theatres, concert halls and large outdoor venues the likes of which are normally reserved for pop stars. But for the cognoscenti, the real action happens elsewhere, after hours.
When the applause dies down in the big stages, performers and hardy fans alike gravitate to the small clubs and hotel bars where one of the oldest of jazz traditions is kept up: the late-night jam session. For a jazz musician, explains Vancouver saxophonist Mike Allen, “rarely in a performance at one of the big venues do you feel that you've 'left it all out on the ice.' It whets your appetite: 'OK, now I'm ready. I'm really warmed up. All the pressure's off to justify the ticket prices.' “
Allen is one of a handful of jazz cats across the country who don't travel during festival season, swapping the touring life for the comforts of home and the unpredictability of the jam session. Since 2003, Allen and his house band have been playing host to musical travellers from across the country and around the world at the downtown Vancouver hotel O'Doul's.
The atmosphere depends on who's in town and what they feel like playing. “Sometimes [the jazz] is really compact and tight-swinging," he says, “but sometimes people come in as part of a group playing more experimental music, and it goes off in a completely different direction. Sometimes it gets really loud, and you have three or four horn players onstage battling - you never know what's going to happen."
The jam session host needs a variety of skills, including diplomacy, musical flexibility, an inside-out knowledge of jazz standards and an unflappable personality. The house band kicks off the night and needs to keep the level of playing as high as possible, in order to maintain the interest of fans and visiting stars. After all, if the likes of Chick Corea, Joshua Redman and B.B. King are ready to jam - as they have been in Montreal in recent years - you'll want to do everything you can to encourage them.
At their best, jazz jam sessions are a million times cooler than their distant relative, karaoke: Inspired musicians come together to put intriguing new spins on old standards. Not everyone, however, realizes that productive interaction is the key to a good jam.
When the applause dies down in the big stages, performers and hardy fans alike gravitate to the small clubs and hotel bars where one of the oldest of jazz traditions is kept up: the late-night jam session. For a jazz musician, explains Vancouver saxophonist Mike Allen, “rarely in a performance at one of the big venues do you feel that you've 'left it all out on the ice.' It whets your appetite: 'OK, now I'm ready. I'm really warmed up. All the pressure's off to justify the ticket prices.' “
Allen is one of a handful of jazz cats across the country who don't travel during festival season, swapping the touring life for the comforts of home and the unpredictability of the jam session. Since 2003, Allen and his house band have been playing host to musical travellers from across the country and around the world at the downtown Vancouver hotel O'Doul's.
The atmosphere depends on who's in town and what they feel like playing. “Sometimes [the jazz] is really compact and tight-swinging," he says, “but sometimes people come in as part of a group playing more experimental music, and it goes off in a completely different direction. Sometimes it gets really loud, and you have three or four horn players onstage battling - you never know what's going to happen."
The jam session host needs a variety of skills, including diplomacy, musical flexibility, an inside-out knowledge of jazz standards and an unflappable personality. The house band kicks off the night and needs to keep the level of playing as high as possible, in order to maintain the interest of fans and visiting stars. After all, if the likes of Chick Corea, Joshua Redman and B.B. King are ready to jam - as they have been in Montreal in recent years - you'll want to do everything you can to encourage them.
At their best, jazz jam sessions are a million times cooler than their distant relative, karaoke: Inspired musicians come together to put intriguing new spins on old standards. Not everyone, however, realizes that productive interaction is the key to a good jam.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
