[Dixielandjazz] JazzSea Jammers on YouTube

[Marek Boym]

Hi Jim,
I am afraid that I am too far away to attend - a few thousand miles!
But I have heard a "duo" with something like eight musicians: under
the UK law, the place was only allowed to featyre a duo, so that's how
it was listed.  However, it was a real musical kaleidoscope, with
musicians joining and leavin all the time.  The most they had at once
was eight, with two trombones.  A memorable evening despite
overcrowding - most of the festival venues were already closed, so
many people went where music still could be heard, + the regular
patrons.  I love English beer!
Cheers

On 31 December 2011 00:35, Jim O'Briant <jobriant at garlic.com> wrote:
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
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