Jam band

Jam Band
Stylistic origins	Rock and roll, Blues-Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Folk Rock
Cultural origins	1960s, United States
Typical instruments	Guitar - Bass - Drums - Keyboard - Violin
Subgenres
Blues-Rock - Alternative Metal - Neo-Psychedelia - Stoner Metal (complete list)
Regional scenes
Denver - Bay Area - East Florida

The term jam band refers to bands from the 1960s to the 2000s whose concerts consist largely of extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns. Although jam bands are often associated with psychedelic rock, jam bands often draw on various musical genres, including other rock styles, progressive rock, funk, progressive bluegrass, blues, country music, folk music, world music and jazz.

Jam bands from the 1960s and 1970s were often influenced by psychedelic rock. Seminal groups included the Grateful Dead, Cream, Frank Zappa, and The Allman Brothers Band. The 1960s and 1970s jam band scene was revived in the mid-1980s by bands such as Phish, Widespread Panic, and Aquarium Rescue Unit.

History

Origins of jam bands

The term 'jam band' may be a reference to the 'jam sessions' that are part of the musical scenes in other improvisation-based styles such as jazz and bluegrass music. Jam bands improvise around the chord progressions of songs, and make variations on the themes, riffs and rhythms, while allowing for unexpected detours of unpredictable duration. Jam bands' lengthy onstage improvisations may be related to the guitar solos performed in traditional rock music. Some jam bands only perform this type of jamming, while other bands engage in free improvisation, spontaneously composing music onstage.

The development of the jam band scene can be analyzed by placing bands into "generation" categories. That is, some bands are considered precursors to those that followed. The first generation of jam bands, from the mid-1960s - early-1970s, sprung from the lengthy improvisation sessions of the seminal group The Grateful Dead. Other first-generation jam bands include The Allman Brothers Band, Deep Purple, The Doors, Santana, Traffic, War, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Hot Tuna, Wishbone Ash, Man, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and New Grass Revival.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was less jam band activity. In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, the second generation of jam bands developed. One of the most well-known second generation jam bands is the widely-touring Phish. Other second generation jam bands included Bela Fleck and the Flecktones; Aquarium Rescue Unit; Frozen Concentrate; Solar Circus; Beanland; God Street Wine; and From Good Homes. Most of these bands formed in the 1980s, but found their most success beginning in the early 1990s.

Bands such as Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews Band and the Spin Doctors also began their careers in the same jam band "scene", playing jam-friendly venues. These bands are some of the few newer generation jam bands around that keep this legendary music alive.

The third generation of jam bands, in the early 1990s was spurred on by the The Grateful Dead's touring and the increased exposure of Phish, Widespread Panic and Aquarium Rescue Unit. Many new bands were formed in the blooming jam band scene, including Rusted Root, Dispatch, Leftover Salmon, moe., and String Cheese Incident. During the third generation of jam bands the venerable Grateful Dead guitarist, frontman, and genre spokesman Jerry Garcia died. During the same period, Phish rose to prominence, and bands such as Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveler became successful.

The fourth generation of jam bands starts in the mid-1990s and continues to the mid-2000s. Notable fourth generation bands include Umphrey's McGee, The Mars Volta, Perpetual Groove, the Disco Biscuits, Particle, RAQ, [Lotus], The Breakfast, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Tea Leaf Green, Assembly of Dust, Yonder Mountain String Band, Keller Williams, Galactic, Animal Liberation Orchestra, Dispatch, the John Butler Trio, and the Benevento/Russo Duo.

The Grateful Dead's Bob Weir once noted, in response to a Jim Ladd question in a 1980s "Innerview" where he described the Dead's music, it is simply "intuitive improvisational music".

Post-Jam

For many jam fans, particularly those in their late 20s located in urban pockets around the country, the demise of Phish and rise of indie rock led to a general backlash against the jamband stigma in 2004. As cited in both the December/January 2006 issue of Relix magazine and a contemporaneous issue of the Village Voice, the term post-jam has come to define a group of more song-oriented live bands with roots in the jam scene. Perhaps more unified by their fans than their sound, post-jam acts like the Slip, the Benevento/Russo Duo, Apollo Sunshine, Sam Champion, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and RANA appeal to a contingent of concert-goers who grew up on jambands but who shifted their interests to groups like Wilco and Radiohead largely through the festivalization of the music industry. Like Neil Young to grunge, My Morning Jacket can be seen as the “godfather” of the post-jam scene, a song-oriented country-rock band with a knack for improvisation. Seminal post-jam albums include the Slip’s Eisenhower, the Duo’s Play Pause Stop, and Apollo Sunshine’s Katonah.

"Jam Scene"

The contemporary jam scene is built on the bands fundamentally described as "Fourth Generation Jam Bands", in the US has grown to encompass bands from a great diversity of musical genres. A new genre of jam-band music uses live improvisation that mimics the sounds of DJs and electronica musicians has been dubbed "livetronica." The Disco Biscuits helped to promote this shift in the jam-band aesthetic, as they were one of the early Phish-influenced jam bands to incorporate electronic music and experiment with livetronica.

Bands who have a similar style to The Disco Biscuits, such as Lotus, Sound Tribe Sector 9, Signal Path, Brothers Past, and The New Deal are rapidly joining the "jamtronica" style in the music world. Jam band fans also listen to progressive rock such as Umphrey's McGee as well as jazz, fusion, and funk bands such as Garaj Mahal, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, and Galactic, and even progressive bluegrass bands such as Yonder Mountain String Band and Railroad Earth. Dixieland and traditional New Orleans jazz have also fused with the jam band scene with bands like Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

The diverse genres and styles of the jam band scene are held together by a common musical approach: an emphasis on creative improvisation and live performance as opposed to structured, arranged live performances and planned studio recordings. As well, another common thread uniting all of the jam bands today is a common fan base of festival goers.

Jam bands downloads

Archived jambands downloads are available at Live Music Archive. Nugs.net is also a source for music and provides MP3 and FLAC files. Peer-to-peer trading is also a common way for fans to trade recordings of live shows. The Furthur Network is a site for trading jam band recordings. In 2005, Relix Magazine lanuched its own podcast, Cold Turkey, hosted by writers Benjy Eisen and Mike Greenhaus.

More bands have been distributing their latest shows online. Bands such as Phish, Widespread Panic, The String Cheese Incident, Gov't Mule, Umphrey's McGee, and The Disco Biscuits have been offering digital downloads within weeks of concerts. The Grateful Dead have begun to offer online, digital download only, live releases from their archives. Leeway's Home Grown Music Network distributes physical CDs to stores and also distributes jam band music to dozens of digital outlets like iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody etc. Check out the selection at Emusic.

Certain venues offer kiosks where fans may purchase a digital recording of the concert and download it to a USB flash drive or another portable digital storage device. Some bands, including The Allman Brothers, offer Instant lives, which are concert recordings made available for purchase on Compact Disc shortly after the show ends. Most major music festivals also offer instant digital live recordings at the event.

Places to see jam music

In the August 2006 issue of Guitar One on jam bands, the following places were referred to as the "best places to see jam music": Red Rocks Amphitheater; Red Rocks Park, Denver, CO; Jam Cruise, Fort Lauderdale, FL; The Gorge Amphitheatre, George, Washington; High Sierra Music Festival, Quincy, CA; The Greek Theater, Berkley, CA; Bonnaroo Music Festival, Manchester, TN; The Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA; The Barrymore Theater, Madison, WI; and The Higher Ground, Burlington, Vermont.

Festivals

One way to see many jam bands in one place is by going to a jam band-oriented music festival. Some popular festivals that include jam bands are: Bonnaroo in Tennessee; All Good in West Virginia; Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival in Lawrence, Kansas; 10,000 Lakes Festival in Minnesota; the Gathering of the Vibes; the Garden of Eden Festival in Greenfield, Mass.; Camp Bisco in Hunter Mountain, New York; Hookahville in Ohio; Schwagstock in Missouri; and Vegoose in Nevada.

External links

• Jambands.com
• The101Report
• JamBase
• Endless Boundaries Music In and Around the Jam Scene!