I'm keeping this journal to share my experiences, invite questions and comments, and encourage others to share their experiences. I live near a small city in Japan, with 4 venues that hold jazz jams. I'm interested in learning about repertoire, management, etiquette and other aspects of jam sessions in different locales.

This month I participated in 3 jams, 2 at Venue C and 1 at Venue B. Venue C holds a weekly jam, and Venue B a monthly one. These are open sessions, lightly managed and part of the regular activities of the venues, which include live shows and other events. Both are small Mom and Pop shops. There's no house band sets, and the audience is mostly other performers. I wonder if this sets them apart from jams in other locales?

The jam at Venue B is on a weekend afternoon. Entry costs 2000JPY (about 13USD), which includes coffee, tea and snacks. Pop is a gigging musician, whose trio participates in the session. The venue has a grand piano, drum set, amps and a PA. Participants vary monthly and include a variety of musicians at different skill levels. This month, including the piano trio, we had PFx2, BAx3, DSx2, GTx2, TRx1, VOx3, and 5 non-participants in the audience.

The session began with VO1 doing 2 tunes with Pops' piano trio, Summertime as a ballad and Just One of Those Days as swing. VO1 was very skilled and the performance was impressive.

Pop then invited TR and I (GT1) up and we played Stella By Starlight, Love For Sale and Well You Needn't. Stella is a jam session staple and a good ice-breaker tune. TP did it as a moderate 4-beat swing. The more I play Stella at jams, the more I enjoy it. We next did Love for Sale. The shift from Eb7 to Bb7 gives it a bluesy feel. I need to work on the changes for the next time it gets called. The highlight of this set was Well You Needn't, which TP called from JSB1 (Miles Davis version). I wasn't expecting the tempo to be so fast. It resembled how Bird played it in 1948. I'm more used to the moderate funky swing as Monk played in early recordings, or the version on Monk and Trane. I knew it well enough to keep up and eke out a solo, but it was a new experience outside my comfort zone and gave me something to work on at home. WYN has been discussed on JGO a bit. I wonder what version and tempo are used in your locales?

After WYN I invited GT2 to take my seat. Sporting a new Sadowsky archtop, they played Days of Wine and Roses nicely with the trio. Next, 2 vocalists did 2 tunes apiece. VO2 sang My Funny Valentine and Beautiful Love with the trio and GT2, who then sat out. VO3 invited me to join on Cry Me a River and Almost Like Being in Love. Both VOs had hand-written charts. PF and I took a half chorus each, no 4s. How do these tunes compare to tunes at jams in your locales?

DS1 and DS2 swapped and I remained on stage to call Dindi. DS2 was more aggressive than DS1, playing a solid Latin beat. I wasn't quite feeling it so ended up getting lost on the refrain after the ad-lib sections, though eventually found my way back. The feel was there, but the timing of the theme on the B section was off.

I think a benefit of jam sessions is providing a reality check outside the practice room comfort zone, offering opportunities to grow. I feel if we only view jam sessions from the viewpoint of entertaining an audience, or pro musicians stretching out, or akin to a gig, then the situated learning is lost. It begs a question, if not in jam sessions then where can one get experience playing familiar tunes in unfamiliar ways in unpredictable circumstances? What are your thoughts on jams?

After Dindi, GT2 and I swapped and with PF2, BA3, DS2 and PF2 they called the jam session staples There Will Never Be Another You and Softly as in a Morning Sunrise. GT2 seems like a good player doing familiar tunes, and yet was still reading the chart. I noticed this at sessions, that even though a participant knows a tune well, they still keep their eyes on the chart. This is reminiscent of some comments made in the recent thread on calling tunes. What role do charts play in your jam sessions?

GT2 and I swapped, and PF1 replaced PF2. After discussion with DS2, PF1 called Summertime as a 16-beat funk in A minor. After listening to PF1 playing outside on the ad-lib, and noting the rock steady groove of DS2 and BA2, I saw an opportunity to go with the flow on a tune that can morph into something beyond a chart. Listening carefully to PF1 going outside, I was able to move away from comping changes into creating tension and forward motion with ascending chromatic shapes, holding V7alt, or quartal forms. I've been jamming with PF1 for over a year; when it happens with us it feels like a taste of next level jazz. From my limited experience, I think being able to pick up the form again after playing outside and devolving into a free jam comes from knowing a tune intuitively, with rapport and groove. It all felt great and we got an enthusiastic applause!

VO3 took the stage next and did Summertime along with GT2, PF1, BA1 and DS2. They started as a ballad, then double time swing. VO3 next did Nearness of You, after which GT2 and I swapped. VO2 returned to the stage to sing Tea for Two and Sentimental Journey. I briefly stepped on VO2 by extending my solo, which should have been a half chorus, but recovered quickly. This might be a point at which a jam session is perhaps viewed as situated learning, but in this case could have been avoided if I were attentive to etiquette. What do you do in such situations?

I remained on stage, along with PF2, DS1 and BS2, to do back-to-back jazz blues, Freddie the Freeloader and Blue Monk. In retrospect, it could be awkward since it's 2 blues-based tunes in the same key. I recall rules from a session in another city, that participants should avoid playing 2 similar tunes. I suppose in this case it could be thought of as an ad hoc medley, but my playing was a bit off on what are normally easy tunes separately, so perhaps there is some wisdom to that jam session rule. Thoughts?

Figuring it was a good time to sit out, I invited GT2 to take my seat, who was joined by PF1, DS1 and BA2. DS1 called Impressions. I read along in the JSB noting how they approached a modal tune. That was followed by Blue Bossa and Night in Tunisia, both jam session staples, bringing the Venue B session to a close.

The next two jams in March were at Venue C, both on weekday evenings. Venue C is a bar/cafe that hosts performances and other events, seating 30-40 people. There's a 3 hour weekly jazz jam session. Participation in the jam is 1000JPY (about 7USD), which includes one drink. Participants vary each week.

The first session began as a guitar duo with Pop and I, playing Days of Wine and Roses, Blue Monk, and Dindi. We play together often and our interactions are intuitive. Pop does walking bass comping and is a key-center riff-oriented player, while my comping is mostly drop 2 chords and I tend toward playing the changes. TR arrived and we did Freddie the Freeloader.

When PF arrived, Pop switched to BA and we did When You Wish Upon a Star and Love is Here to Stay. I wasn't familiar with the latter and tried to stay out of PF's way. We next did It Don't Mean a Thing. The JSB chart is a confusing, with 2 sets of changes and an alternate theme. It needs careful listening. TP called It Could Happen to You, a straight forward tune. At this point, still no drummer, unusual for Venue C.

About half way through, AS joined and called I'll Close My Eyes, a staple tune that everyone enjoys. Soon after, DS arrived and with the same participants I called Well You Needn't. We used the JSB changes. I used a F7-Gb7 vamp to get things going. Everyone took a solo, and TP joined me on the theme after 4s. AS then called Have You Met Miss Jones.

By 10PM, we had been playing for 2 hours straight so TP and I sat out. BA swapped, and GT2 & GT3 arrived. With PF, AS, BA and DS, GT2 called Feel Like Makin' Love, their go-to tune for jams. PF used a Fender Rhodes sound that suited it well. I stayed for the next tune, Stella By Starlight, which GT also calls often, another session staple. AS started packing up, and we left together while others continued.

A quick note on gear. For the past month I've been using a Yamaha archtop, but wanted to try my Tears TLP-EGP "guteleki" (Japanese for nylon string electric). I've been going through gear with an eye toward gradually selling things off. I have another traditional nylon string, so wanted to try the Tears at a session to see if it's a keeper. I strung it up with LaBella Elite 900B strings, with polished wound strings. The Tears was first made in Japan 15 years ago, in production 5 years. It has an under saddle Highlander IP-1V pickup which, similar to a K&K Pure Mini, catches bridge and body vibrations. With a pre-amp powered by a 9v battery, it has 1 volume and 3 tone knobs. The mahogany body is hollow with a flame maple top. I use polished strings because my technique is not refined and there's finger noise. I'm playing with my thumb, occasionally adding fingers for chords, which I started doing a few weeks ago. Using it for the first time at a jam tonight, I plugged the Tears into a Yamaha amp set flat with a touch of reverb. It sounded better on the higher strings, so I need to play around with tone controls and articulation.

The next jam Venue C had 9 participants: GTx4, DSx2, PFx1, BAx1 and VOx1. We began with PF calling Perdido. It's 2 pages in JSB1, including a "2nd Riff" on page 2, following the same changes. We used the 1st page theme. It was a moderately fast swing in an AABA form, with the B section a cycle of 4ths from D7. It's usually called by horn players, but tonight PF played the theme. I'm not as familiar with it as I should be, so listened more than played. We followed the usual jam session pattern, during which I took a chorus.

BA managed the session tonight, and asked me to call the next tune. I'd been working on Horace Silver's Strollin,' so called that. Inspired by Emily Remler's recording, I called it at jams years ago. After corona paused jams, I hadn't called it till now. Although Emily's intro is beautiful, I just used the outro. I played the first AB in a low register and moved up an octave using minor 3rds and chords for the second AB, with JSB outro. BA held it together with solid lines, though others were unfamiliar with it. I noticed in the past that the key signature in Db Major (5 flats) is daunting on first glance, but the tempo is moderate, even bouncy if one uses the Horace Silver version as a guide, and it's more or less a workout in ii-Vs. After playing the theme, I took 2 choruses, and then we followed the usual cycle.

GT3 next called Straight No Chaser. The tempo was manageable and we played the theme together in octaves, with me on the lower octave. After the ad-libs, we played it in unison. Since it's a jazz blues form, and I've played it a lot, I was comfortable to stretch out and listen and not be chart-bound.

The next tune was Someday My Prince Will Come. It's in 3/4, though there was some joking around about playing it as a 4 beat. I'm not very comfortable in 3/4, so there's always a little trepidation when such tunes get called. There was a time years ago when I got into a 3/4 groove, and couldn't get out of it for the next tune! I overcame that gradually by counting off a 4 beat tune snapping on 2 and 4. Tonight, in a moderate tempo, I felt relaxed comping lightly, but I'm still not able to intuitively feel the form in 3/4 for ad-lib and was off on timing.

Last week, AS called Have You Met Miss Jones, which reminded me what an interesting tune it is. I read a bit about it, and found that the cycle of thirds on the bridge, some speculate, may have inspired Coltrane. Listening to different versions, it's sometimes played at breakneck speeds. I'm not adept at, nor even interested in speed. I practiced it for a week up to about 160BPM. It's my habit to start a theme in the low register, and play the repeat theme in a higher register. Ad-libbing on this tune is fun! I approached it with common chord tones and melody variants on the A section, and outlining the "Coltrane changes" on the B section. I'll work on it more and call it again next time.

About midway through, PF called Satin Doll, using the JSB intro. I played this often in the past, at first inspired by the Joe Pass version on his trio album of Ellington tunes. Bars 5 and 6 need attention, going from Am7-D7 to Abm7-Db7, but the rest can be handled competently, if not innovatively, by playing around key centers of C on the A section and F and G on the B section. It's worth refreshing this for next time.

After a break, GT3 packed up and left and GT4 arrived. The second half of the session had a few vocal tunes, while G4 and I remained on stage and DS1 and DS2 swapped every few tunes. No horns tonight.

GT4 began the second set with Freddie, and there was some joking around about how it's difficult to pronounce in Japanese after I didn't recognize it by name. I like using the A section for ad-lib, with Ab7 in the last 2 bars, but GT4 prefers jazz blues changes. GT4 left some space on the theme, so we had some nice interchange. That was followed by PF calling Lover Come Back to Me at a moderate tempo. It has a 16 bar A section played twice and 16 bar B section followed by a reprise of A. The chart is laid out unevenly, with line breaks not corresponding with bar numbers. I had to be careful, since I don't know it well. This helped me realize how reading charts interacts with an intuitive feel of the form. The changes in the last 4 bars, at the tempo we used, go by quickly so I only hinted at them and kept my volume down, brushing the strings lightly with my thumb. There's a part in the B section where it goes from D7 to Eb7, another of those place-finder moments if I happen to get lost.

Stella By Starlight was called by GT4, who shines on this tune. It gets called often at sessions, most frequently at Venue C and Venue A, one of those tunes everyone knows and plays with an easy tempo and a slowly unfolding melody. GT4 played the theme with the piano trio, while I laid back mostly to let their guitar stand out. It's a 32 bar form, arranged as ABCA2 in the JSB. PF played the A2 as an intro, and we all took solos. It has place-finder moments in the C section, with the G7b13 for 2 bars going to Cm7, and then Ab7#11 going to the tonic chord BbMaj7. Beautiful changes!

BA invited me to call the next tune, so I chose Dindi from JSB2, which I've been calling for the past couple months. It usually gets compliments from peers, tonight from VO, who arrived with DS2 while we were playing it. I called it as a moderate Bossa, beginning with an intro based on the Jobim original, played rubato, and ending on one of my favorite "hanging-in-the air" chords, sometimes noted as G13/Ab, which nicely sets up a vamp on Eb6 to Bbm7 to establish the tempo. For ad-lib I stuck to variations on the melody. Oddly, this time we got lost, perhaps by missing one of the A sections during 4s. It wasn't a train wreck and with my hand signals we all came together at the top. At a previous jam, I got lost on Dindi, too, during the ad-lib, which is perplexing because I know the tune pretty well (even though playing over the B section needs some attention). I think these lapses are due to getting ahead of myself, with enthusiasm outstripping skill. But, as they say around these parts, "ie, ie, daijoubu, sesshun desu," meaning something like "no worries, all good, it's a session." Of course, that's no excuse and I need to be more attentive to this tendency.

PF called the next tune, I Remember You. The form is AABC, with the A and B sections 8 bars each and the C section 12 bars. Starting out in F, the B section has a nice modulation to DMaj7 by way of BbMa7. They're fun changes to navigate!

VO took the stage for the next 3 tunes, and brought chord charts. Gigging the local circuit lately, they've improved remarkably. Normally at sessions, VO likes to call more funky/bluesy tunes, like Work Song, but this time called Black Orpheus, But Not For Me, and Cry Me a River, all sung with conviction and style. I'm starting to "get" playing with vocalists. VO was familiar with the form of songs, knows how to transition to ad-lib, and dances while we play. Not everyone solos, and there's no 4s, but it's still a nice jam session experience.

As the session end approached, BA asked me to call the last song. I chose Well You Needn't, again using an F7-Gb7 vamp to get it going at a moderate, bouncy tempo. Some, such as TP at venue B as noted above, prefer to call it much faster, and Monk has been known to play it quite up, but Monk also did it in a bouncy, swing style, which I prefer. Everyone stretched out quite a bit during their ad-libs, and there was a rousing trading 4s. It was a great session closer, after which BA said something like, "Thelonious Monk as Rock 'n Roll!"

I know these journals are long, but I try to include as much detail as possible to hopefully catch someone's interest to perhaps post a reply. Thank you for reading!