Getting a new jam session going

Two friends and I have decided to get swing jam session started in the suburbs of Kansas City. It's something we've talked about for several months and finally decided to get going. I thought I'd share some of what we are doing as the jam gets going. Our first session was today.

This is the second jam I've been involved in getting started. The first was with my friend Shawn. Two years ago we started up an Old Time/Contra Dance/Irish tune jam that continue strong. That took about a year to really gel and perhaps about six months to get a solid core of regulars.

The first step we took was to run a swing jam in one of our homes (mine) and invite everybody we thought would be interested. It was not only fun, but served as a trial run of sorts to see if a regular jam would hold interest. More than ten people gathered for that first jam on a day when it snowed very heavily. I think the interest level was there, and just about everybody who attended was interested in doing it again.

The next big hurdle was finding a place to host our session. A regular jam at a public space - that is not a home - is what we were looking for.

Churches can often work for this, as can bars and restaurants. We happened to get very lucky - I had recently been to a retirement home for an open house pancake breakfast with my family (my kids, 2 and 4, love pancakes. At times perhaps more than they love me :) ). I got talking with the couple that ran it, and they were very interested in having musicians play there. I took care to make it clear that the people who came to play were not performing, were not a band and were not rehearsing. We play for fun. While the concept of a jam seemed new to them, they loved whole idea. They gave me the contact details for their events coordinator and asked that I call her with specifics.

A few weeks later I visited the event coordinator to make sure that the dates we had in mind fit their event schedule, talked through logistics, concerns, ideas and such with her and the spot was booked.

The total bonus of this place is that it comes with a grand piano. As I said, we lucked into a great home for the jam.

In getting this next jam going the three of us committed to making sure that at least two of us can always be there on the 1st Saturday of each month. We'll build up a core of regulars over the next few months and begin to settle into a common repertoire.

The next challenge was letting folks know about the jam. I'll write more on that shortly.

Scott

PS: If you are in Greater Kansas City, join our swing, show tunes and standards jam session on the 1st Saturday of each month.