From: AM@highwire.net   
      
   "Lane Gray, Czar Castic"  wrote in message   
   news:opsrfjygwi8955ol@stylgar...   
   > On Wed, 25 May 2005 11:03:49 -0600, AM  wrote:   
   >   
   >> "bogul"  wrote in message   
   >> news:Xns965F8C8A7C3D2bugulbugus@216.196.97.142...   
   >>> An interesting sub-plot the the original thread...   
   >>>   
   >>> I gotta ask. What are you seeking out in a "jam"?   
   >>   
   >> A jam is simply people *playing* together.  No hierarchicality is   
   >> necessary - - - unless one is excessively egoistic.  No control is   
   >> necessary - - - unless one is excessively narrow-minded.  Obviously,   
   >> Control Freak Egomaniacs are psycho-spiritually incapable of meeting   
   >> these two crucial conditions.   
   >>   
   > Well, if the piece getting played is a *song*, then one would expect the   
   > singer to have a good deal of input, as one would consider it his/her   
   > tune.   
      
   Most folksingers define singing as "any sound emanating from a bodily   
   orifice," and thus, are not worthy of any special deference.   
      
   >That said, unless the jam is held at someone's house (and the  homeowner   
   >plays the role of the jamnazi), someone laying down rigid rules  isn't very   
   >cool at all.   
   >   
   >>> or... perhaps better stated... what to you would truly   
   >>> constitute a Jam?   
   >>   
   >> This, I described in Paragraph 5 of the previous post:  "Union with the   
   >> Creative Force through an egalitarian, synergistic, co-creative process,   
   >> unfettered by subjective preconception of what must occur."   
   >>   
   > Here I'd say that the Dave Matthews Band or Phish have given you an odd   
   > concept of a "jam session."   
   > If you're at a bluegrass jam, expect the songs/instrumentals to roughly   
   > conform to the general aspects of bluegrass (i.e. generally three chords;   
   > generally in 2/4 time; most verses either 16 or 32 bars, with choruses of   
   > generally equal length; you don't play your breaks in polyrhythms or take   
   > Charlie Parkeresque high-energy bebop flights of fancy), just like you   
   > wouldn't break out your Lynyrd Skynrd licks if you sat in at a Dixieland   
   > jam.  The idea of a jam session "unfettered by subjective preconception of   
   > what must occur" will generally not exist anywhere.   
   > A room full of 'grassers will generally expect the music to sound like   
   > bluegrass, a Dixieland jam will generally conform to the standards and   
   > conventions of Dixieland, a blues jam will generally conform to the   
   > standards and conventions of the blues, et al, et c.   
      
   As Frank Zappa once said, "Without deviation from the norm, no progress is   
   possible."   
      
   Now, "shut up and play your guitar!"   
      
   AM   
   --   
   ***************************************************   
   "Oneness is not achieved through conformity or subordination, but   
   through the full expression of everyone's unique piece of the puzzle."   
     --AM   
   ***************************************************   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)