The Grey Horse, Kingston Upon Thames

I went to the Tuesday night jam session for the first time last night to check it out. There are indeed some talented people there, but my 2 hours with them were a misery. The way it works is the resident 3 piece band play 3 introduction numbers. People wishing to play must put their name on list with their instrument, then musicians are selected from the list roughly in order they were added. First of all, its only guitarists (including bass guitarists) and drummers. I am sure they do get other instuments, but from what I heard, this seems a rarity. The guitarists may or may not add a vocal. One member of the randomised band then seems to take "control", which mostly means just bashing out non-stop blues scales as fast as possible over a blues chord sequence held up by the bass player. Don't get me wrong, there were some very good musicians there, but there was no depth or finesse to anything I heard. I'd rather have heard a beginner attempting something original. It may be the format that is to blame, because sure as hell, as an intermediate saxophonist, I don't have the skill to play just anything that happens to be good for a guitarist. I just got the impression that most (not all) of them were there to prove something rather than enjoy the session and play something original. There were one or two less fatiguing tunes, but basically, after 2 hours, I gave in and came home. Its good that the Grey Horse hosts this regular event, and I don't dispute it is popular with the audience. I just found it superficial, a bit intimidating and a wasted opportunity for some creative improvisation. Sorry.

6 Jul 2005 16:09