[Dixielandjazz] JazzSea Jammers on YouTube

[Jim O'Briant]

Marek Boym wrote:

> Wow! 
> That's some band!  Three banjos, three reeds, and still playing vey 
> well together.  I have only now found the time, but it was well worth 
> waiting for.
> Even if I have never wondered about Dick Williams Jazzsea Jammers, 
> nor heard of them!

Marek, the "JazzSea Jammers" aren't an established band; the only regular
member is Dick Williams (the cornetist in the white sweater in the video at
). Dick is a long-time jazz player; his wife Cathy is the west coast
representative of the cruise company, JazzSea Cruises.

Thus, she and Dick go on a lot of cruises with major American trad bands. As
a player, Dick would rather play than listen, so he convinced Cathy and the
JazzSea Cruises to encourage cruise passengers to bring their instruments
along with them, and he'd organize jam sessions for them to play as well.
It's been very successful -- I know that on one cruise they had 70 banjo
players alone, plus other instruments. 

The jam sets on the cruises were so popular that now several Trad Festivals
in the western USA also engage Dick Williams to offer "JazzSea Jammers" sets
to festival attendees who may not be professional musicians, but who would
like to play a bit as well. He has really developed the ability to take a
group of players of varying abilities, many of whom have never played
together before, and run a set that sounds anywhere from pretty good to
REALLY good. 

For the festivals, Dick arranges for an "anchor" rhythm section -- tuba,
banjo, piano & drums -- to be available for every jam set. If others want to
play on those instruments, one or two of the anchor players will be replaced
for all or part of a set by one of these other players; but he always keeps
at least two of his anchor players on the stage at all times, to be sure
that things hold together rhythmically. (A couple of amateur banjoists who
rush the tempo or a drummer who plays too many fills & drags the tempo can
really cause a train wreck.)

Dick also runs the Jam Sets at most meetings of the South Bay Traditional
Jazz Society which meets in Sunnyvale, CA on the 4th Sunday of each month.
Here, he's often working with society members who are professional players,
and the jam sets often rival the quality of the hired guest band for the
meeting. 

It's been my pleasure to be Dick's "anchor" tuba player at many festivals
over the past several years, and I'm looking forward to doing the same again
at the Fresno Mardi Gras festival in February.

Jim O'Briant
Gilroy, CA
Tuba & Leader, The Zinfandel Stompers