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Another Blues Club Bites the Dust


JimmieWannaB

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Posted
:cry: Kingfish, formerly Blues on B, in San Mateo, CA has dropped blues in favor of pseudo funk for the 20-something crowd. I understand why they made the change but am stilled bummed. Only 15 - 20 of us were showing up for the blues while the new sound packed the house. Good group with nice R&B/funky mix, but at 49 I am a little out of place with a crowd that still needs carding to buy their sugar infused fru-fru drinks. Gotta look elsewhere for my blues fix.
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Posted

All we can do is keep supporting the places that STILL support the music we listen, help spread the information about the place. The trendy stuff doesn't last very long, IMHO.

 

I've made it a point at least every other week to go watch live jazz or blues.

 

I was actually pretty surprised how good the live scene here is.

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Posted

That's a shame, Jimmy. I guess I'm partly to blame, haven't been to that place in 15 years probably. :o

 

JJ's is going downhill too. Used to be three clubs, now it's just the divey one on Stevens Creek. The last time I saw a REALLY packed house there was Sista Monica, gotta be at least five years ago.

 

--Dave

Make my funk the P-funk.

I wants to get funked up.

 

My Funk/Jam originals project: http://www.thefunkery.com/

 

Posted
Dave, I live at the other end of the Peninsula. Would you say the groups that typically play JJ's are worth a 30-40 minute drive? If not, I may start going to the SF clubs. It was nice getting my blues fix just around the corner but it's time to move on.
Posted
Here in the Boston area, Ricky T's in Plymouth closed its doors Sep 15. Just played there end of August, great stage, sound system.
Posted
Originally posted by JimmieWannaB:

Dave, I live at the other end of the Peninsula. Would you say the groups that typically play JJ's are worth a 30-40 minute drive? If not, I may start going to the SF clubs. It was nice getting my blues fix just around the corner but it's time to move on.

Well, the Friday and Saturday headliners are usually pretty good. The weekday stuff is pretty hit and miss, and I must say I play there more than I listen there. I'm in Alvin Draper's band which is sort of a house band for the Sunday night jam/invitational/whatever. Alvin's a really special musician, and is definitely worth seeing. It's hard to say what the product will be on any given night though. Sometimes the jammers are good, sometimes not. And if the crowd is real small, Alvin treats the gig more like a rehearsal for the band. :D

 

This might sound weird, but I'm way more into playing the blues than I am into listening to it. Don't get me wrong, I love the blues. But if I'm not playing, I tend to get bored with the I-IV-V thing in about 40 minutes.

 

--Dave

Make my funk the P-funk.

I wants to get funked up.

 

My Funk/Jam originals project: http://www.thefunkery.com/

 

Posted

We are real lucky here in Portland Oregon. There's quite a good blues scene, with a large number of working bands and venues. There was some falling away when the economy tanked but new places have taken up the cudgel (or is that a baton?)

 

If any of you are passing through be sure to drop me a line and I would be happy to take you round. There are Blues Jams Sunday through Thursday. Friday Saturday are for headliners, so no jams those nights. We also have the Cascade Blues Association with the (free - public invited) meetings first Wednesday of the month.

 

Cascade Blues Web Site

Posted
Originally posted by Dave Pierce:

...

This might sound weird, but I'm way more into playing the blues than I am into listening to it. Don't get me wrong, I love the blues. But if I'm not playing, I tend to get bored with the I-IV-V thing in about 40 minutes.

--Dave

That's my take on the blues as well.

Though I might get bored already after 10 minutes.

:rolleyes::D

 

BTW, I really appreciate and enjoy what blues gave to pop/rock music in general: blue notes, scale, riffs, intonation... But that's it.

I am back.
Posted

:evil: I have to disagree on the I-IV-V comments. Yes, if you're in a club and that's all a group is doing, down your drink as fast as you can and leave. Worse, if that's all you're doing it personally, then you should hang your head in shame.

 

Fortunately, most groups, at least the good ones, don't let themselves get stuck in that rut. Some of the best blues written doesn't touch the I-IV-V sequence and certainly isn't restricted to the blues scales.

Posted
Originally posted by JimmieWannaB:

:evil: I have to disagree on the I-IV-V comments. Yes, if you're in a club and that's all a group is doing, down your drink as fast as you can and leave. Worse, if that's all you're doing it personally, then you should hang your head in shame.

 

Fortunately, most groups, at least the good ones, don't let themselves get stuck in that rut. Some of the best blues written doesn't touch the I-IV-V sequence and certainly isn't restricted to the blues scales.

Yeah, I probably spend too much time at jams. :rolleyes:

 

--Dave

Make my funk the P-funk.

I wants to get funked up.

 

My Funk/Jam originals project: http://www.thefunkery.com/

 

Posted
:thu: I spoke too soon. Blues is not dead, it just died on Saturdays. Went back to Kingfish tonight (Saturday) to give it another shot. The group was still pretty good but the 20 something crowd had no appreciation for the music that was being played (70s funk and jazz) forcing the group to play disco (hated disco in the 70s, :mad: definitely can't stand it now). :cool: Talked to the bartender during a break and found out that blues is very much alive on Fridays. I'm usually to ragged to go out after work but since I want blues to live on locally, I've drag my sorry ass out.

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