Case of the blues
Weekly jam session takes off
By Chris Jay 01/28/2010
From the supposedly over, but not that you can tell, recession, to Conan O’Brien losing the Tonight Show, not to mention a week-long rain storm that produced a touch down tornado in Ventura, it seems there’s a lot to be bummed about so far this year. In the face of the onslaught of hard times, one positive thing that’s occurred as of late is the local resurgence of the blues — the music, not the mood, of course. Wednesday night, traditionally the worst night of the week for live music, is now the chosen evening for the fast-rising Ventura All-Star Blues night.
The genesis of the evening began when Bombay Bar and Grill bartender and music booker Diego Gamba was talking with a friend and customer about the fact that, despite a large number of blues musicians and fans in the area, there was a lack of nights and venues devoted to the genre. Diego reached out to his friend Bryan McCann, best known as the owner of Instrumental Music, and they constructed the idea of having a weekly blues night that would offer more than the average jam session.
Launched this past December, the night has been so fine-tuned over the past few weeks that first-time patrons who attended last week’s night were shocked to find it wasn’t a long-standing institution.
What makes the All-Star Blues night seem to work so well is that it’s not an open-mic or a free-form jam. The house band and backup band for the night is the Ray Jay Band, which keeps things going with a vast repertoire of covers and originals making sure there’s no lull in the entertainment which has been known to go until midnight. They also act as backup or accompaniment to the guest musicians, who, unlike an open-mic, are required to go to the All-Star Blues Web site and sign up for the upcoming week for the opportunity to play a few songs. It’s a system that, as McCann explains, acts as a “quality control” of sorts.
“The system we came up with allows us to make sure we don’t have anyone off the street, so to speak,” explains McCann shortly before a performance. “By signing up online, we have the opportunity to get familiar with the artist and schedule them at a specific time, which we then announce through Bombay’s Facebook [page], so it has the feel of an actual show, not a haphazard jam. We make sure the night flows right.”
McCann would be one to know how to manage a well-run event. For the past 30 years he’s been the owner of three independent musical instrument retail stores (not an easy task in today’s big-box store takeover climate), and he was inspired to help put together and co-sponsor the night based partly on his own experiences as an accomplished saxophonist and on conversations with his many customers.
“There are so many talented musicians around here that maybe aren’t in a band. I felt they needed a venue to network and cultivate the community. We call the night blues but it’s not limited to that. We’re open to a lot of different styles from jazz to rock,” McCann explained.
The plan, naturally is to go slowly and develop the night, but ultimately McCann would like to see the jam evolve to feature name artists making guest appearances, putting Ventura on the national blues map much as a similar blues jam in Redwood City has done.
Whether the All-Star Blues night turns Ventura into the West Coast capital of the blues remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure so far, it’s a good time to have the blues.
The All-Star Blues jam takes place every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. at the Bombay Bar and Grill, 143 S. California St., Ventura. For more information and to sign up to perform visit www.allstarblues.com or send an e-mail to info@allstarsblues.com.
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looking forward to this..gonna go this upcoming 2/3....we are big jazz fans...are there any places in Ventura to go and listen to Jazz? just moved here from AZ and learning...thanks.