Jam

I had a good time this evening. We had a band jam session. Up until now, we have been rehearsing specific songs. Tonight we just jammed.

Bass player Hugh Walpole also happens to be a great keyboard player. The first time I ever saw Hugh play was in the early ’80s at the old Buffalo Bar in Springfield Mo. At the time, I was playing in a three piece band that never got off the ground. I went to watch the three piece that Hugh was in with my band’s bass player. I remember pointing out that Hugh was really good at the trio thing. There are not too many guys that can make a trio really interesting and the tendency is too play too many notes to make up for the lack of more players.

I went back to the club a few weeks after that and Hugh was playing keyboards. I couldn’t believe it was the same guy. He brings a good deal to the table on both instruments, pretty rare.

Hugh brouht his keyboard tonight and we jammed on songs like “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” and “The Work Song” by Cannonball Adderly, “Green Onions”, “All of Me”, “Honky Tonk” and “Summertime”. We even did a version of “The Hucklebuck”. It was a lot of fun. Nice chord changes. We are going to figure out a way to incorporate the keys as we go. Hugh has strong left hand and he thinks like a bass player and that’s the trick.