I recently got back from a week long holiday in London with family. The weather in London was terrific, 60 degrees, sunshine, daffodils in bloom, great Spring weather. During the day, we visited lots of great sights, but on two occasions, I decided to check out a couple of local blues jams.
First stop was "Nothing But the Blues," the long time venerable blues club in SOHO that offers blues music 7 nights a week and has been doing so for years. I arrived for the 8 pm jam at 8:30 and there was already a line for admission and the list was deep. I waited about 2 hours to play. In the meantime, there were lots of acts, mostly a mishmash of combos with guitars, harps and vocalists. Stand out artist of the evening was guitarist Davide Mazzantini, a London based Italian born blues guitarist who plays in many London clubs. I had contacted Davide prior to coming and received a warm welcome from him and ended up meeting a number of his friends that night. I ended playing with 2 guitarist, an Italian and a Chinese student from Jakarta; a Spanish guy on drums and a English bass player. The result was ok, a loose blues jam that the audience enjoyed. All in all, a good experience worth checking out.
The next night I attended a jam in Chalkfarm at Fiddler's Elbow that was run by Davide Mazzantini. If you check out Youtube, you can find videos of Davide, there is even one of our own El Jefe, Mr Adam, playing with him. The FE is a little off the beaten path so it wasn't as well attended but more than made up for it with talent. I meet two other harp players there, Rollo Markee and Laurie Garman. Rolle is a pretty fine player and gigs around London. As for Laurie, I didn't see him play but he use to play with The Yardbirds.
I ended playing with Davide and did a set of Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf tunes. This guy really nailed the Chicago sound, a great finger picking, Tele playing guitarist. The other players were pretty good, lots of blues like the latest Rolling Stones cd's. The crowd was very friendly and engaging, a pretty good vibe.
I did not make it to the Coach and Horses jam in Leyton that I believe is run by someone here at MBH. I hope they can weigh in on what I missed there!
And also, sad to say, I missed seeing Steve West Weston, harmonica ace with the Bluesonics and Trickbag. He has great West Coast sensibilities and a fantastic Chicago blues tone and is adept on diatonic and chromatic harp. Unbelievable use of space and tone as long as the day....and not an overblow in sight. next time I planned to track this guy down.
All in all, if your travels take you to London, and you want to play a little blues, don't be shy, jump on the tube and check out a jam.
Last Edited by 6SN7 on Mar 30, 2017 10:40 AM
Hey 6SN7, glad you enjoyed your trip to London. You really did miss the best jam ( in my opinion) at the Coach and Horses and another one called Arch1 in East London. I don't run the C+H but have been attending of and on for about 10 years and I love it. I have met musicians there who have played with some of the biggest names....The original founder of the jam actually played with little Walter when he toured and n the UK and many of the older guys have played with some very big names. I found the C+H guys very friendly and encouraging and I have heard some sets over the years which were just? fantastic. It's very well run and even though the pub is a bit grotty it all adds to the atmosphere.
For something completely different try Arch 1 The most laid back jam you'll ever attend. Robert the owner has sweated for years to make this a success and I've had some of the best musical nights of my life in that club. Small and intimate, it's the kind of club I want to own one day
Come back soon and check them out!! ---------- Oisin
Steve Weston's London gig is at Ain't Nothing But on Kingley St - the same place mentioned in the original post.
He plays 1-2 times/month, always Fridays or Saturdays. http://www.aintnothinbut.co.uk/
The Coach & Horses film every set and put them up on youtube - you can find it on slomo947. It's a very friendly jam, no attitudes whatsoever, although it can get quite loud ever since they refurbished the back room and ripped out those manky carpets.
Arch1 is possibly even friendlier, and *very* loose. No list no structure, but an open and welcoming vibe - just how jams should be.
Last Edited by GamblersHand on Apr 02, 2017 4:23 PM
