[Dixielandjazz] Not quite OKOM, but an interesting article on a new San Jose "Jam Session" series

[david richoux]

This was in the Sunday San Jose Mercury News - maybe worth a read!

Dave Richoux

---------------------------------------

WEDNESDAYS AT WAVESThe boys in the band are playing ``The Days of Wine 
and Roses,'' and a couple over in the corner, beside the bar, is locked 
in an embrace, slow-dancing to the beat. That's Buddy Barnhill on 
drums, tapping out the pulse on his ride cymbal. He's a history book of 
rhythm, 65 years old and a 45-year veteran of jazz jam sessions in San 
Jose. His son, Scott, 43, and a tenor saxophone powerhouse, is also in 
the band, as is Scott Barnhill's student and protégé, Frank Silva, 17, 
a senior his fall at Pioneer High School and a serious jazz aspirant. 
They're links in a continuum, making music on stage in front of a red 
velvet backdrop in this half-lit club -- Waves Smokehouse and Saloon in 
downtown San Jose.

Tradition is passed down through the jam session. Charlie Parker got 
his start jamming with the elders in Kansas City clubs in the '30s; 
Miles Davis did the same in East St. Louis and New York in the '40s. 
The jam session is an entry point and proving ground for newcomers, a 
laboratory for improvisers.

Someone calls out the name of a tune -- ``Autumn Leaves,'' maybe, or 
something by Gershwin, or ``a blues in C'' -- and the soloists dig in 
over the rhythm section. Pretty soon, the joint is jumping.

Tonight, Scott Barnhill unleashes big coiling solos, in the manner of 
John Coltrane, as Silva, a little bashful on stage, looks on 
admiringly, then dives in himself, navigating the chord changes to 
``Wine and Roses'' with more aplomb than a 17-year-old ought to have. 
This is the heart of jazz -- trial and error, a relentless beat, a 
torch being passed.

Frankly, there hasn't been much of a jam scene in San Jose in recent 
years, but the San Jose Jazz Society is trying to change that by 
sponsoring this Wednesday night session at Waves, on Post Street around 
the corner from St. Joseph Cathedral-Basilica. There's always a paid 
rhythm section and at least one professional horn player to whip the 
front line into shape. After that, all comers are welcome -- talented 
students and amateurs drop by, as do some of the best players in the 
Bay Area, including the Barnhills.


The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/9024273.htm