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Jambands – Conversation Lesson

Kristin: AJ, last night Joe and I and Eric went to see the Jerry Garcia symphonic celebration with Warren Haynes over at the Greek Theater.

AJ: So he’s playing with the symphony and playing Grateful Dead music?

Kristin: Yeah, exactly.

AJ: Was it like a jamband concert or with the symphony, it seems like…that sounds interesting. It’s not the usual.

Kristin: No, it wasn’t. In fact, it was really good first of all. It was really interesting to have the symphony play along with these rock musicians. But they didn’t…they didn’t go off and jam. In fact, there were a couple of times that Eric was saying, after the show, “Oh, there were so many opportunities that they could have just gone off and…and, they didn’t.” And I said, “Well, I don’t think it was really that kind of a show because the symphony, y’know, they have their music and they…they play exactly what they’ve practiced. They don’t improvise at all.”

AJ: Right, they’re not going to jam.

Joe: Well, Eric was saying that because during the concert it was one of the things that he and I were discussing and, y’know, he and I being really big fans of Jerry Garcia’s music, we had certain expectations for the show and, y’know, we…I want to tell you AJ that we loved the show.

AJ: Mm.

Joe: Both Eric and I…Kristin did, too. And the thing that we loved about it is because they were playing all these songs that we’re so familiar with, that we’ve heard so many times. But it was a new approach because there was a symphony playing behind them. But, y’know, one of the things I love about Jerry Garcia’s music is the improvisational nature of it.

AJ: Hm.

Joe: I mean, y’know, he is the godfather of the jamband genre.

AJ: Mm.

Joe: I mean, he really is, right? Because the Grateful Dead were the first band that were a jamband.

They were the first ones to ever do it, y’know? And obviously when we’re talking jambands what we’re talking about is a, y’know, is a style of music in which there is a lot of improvisation.

AJ: Yeah, I kind of think of it as sort of a combination of jazz, y’know, that improvisational approach like with jazz, but then combining that with more rock and then…it depends because each band has their own little blend. Y ‘know, some of them have somewhat of a bluegrass feel. I think the Dead had some bluegrass influence. And others, like I feel Phish is a little more on the jazz-rock side, they’re a little harder. But they all have that improve thing. I think that’s kind of what ties them together, right? That they’re not just playing a set song exactly the same way every time they perform.

Joe: Yes. And that’s exactly right. And, y’know, the Grateful Dead were highly influenced by jazz music.

AJ: Mm.

Joe: They were all fans of it and one of the things they loved about it was that there was a lot of improvisation.

AJ: Mm-hm.

Joe: So that’s why when they started a rock and roll band they wanted to kind of bring improvisation into it, y’know?

AJ: Mm.

Joe: And the term jamband, or the name of the genre, that was never even made up I think until like the 1980s.

AJ: Ah.

Joe: The Grateful Dead had been playing for well over 20 years I think until people started to, y’know, call them a jamband.

AJ: Mm.

Joe: But, y’know, one of the things that I love about this music is that it’s so different each time. I mean, that’s the nature of improvisation, right? The Grateful Dead could play a song and then play it again a week later and it would sound drastically different. Really, the nature of the music is the improvisational jam and the fact that the jams go on a long time. The song is just a vehicle to deliver a long jam that’s, y’know, improvisational in nature.

AJ: Mm.

Kristin: Well, y’know, people like my parents who don’t really know much about this music, they don’t understand how, Joe, you can go to a show like three nights in a row. Because most other music, you go to a concert, a live concert, and every night is going to be pretty much the same.

AJ: Yeah.

Kristin: So my parents when they hear you go three nights in a row they’re like “Why? He didn’t get enough the first night?” Thinking it’s, y’know, each night is the same, but it’s not.

AJ: Yeah, and because, y’know, this kind of music obviously is all about live performances. I think that’s what makes it so special, y’know, compared to say standard pop music and even rock, which tends to be more focused on like studio albums and exact songs, which is fine, too. But this is more about the live performance. I know that these bands almost always emphasize live concerts, each one’s different. As opposed to emphasizing an album.

Joe: Yes, it’s true. And that’s why a lot of fans of jambands will go to see the same band play three nights in a row.

AJ: Mm.

Joe: They won’t hear any of the same songs. Every show will have different songs. Maybe after a week the band’ll go back and play some of the same songs, but if you go to see the band three nights in a row, there will be no repeated songs.

AJ: Any song can be played differently each time, too.

Joe: Right, if they played a week later, it’s going to be different, y’know. What song they played before that song is important, right?

AJ: Yeah.

Joe: Because a lot of the times they will segue from one song into another via a jam, y’know? So, so that’s even different. And that’s one of the best parts about the shows, to see how they play the song differently, but not only that, what song they play before or after that because a lot of the times they don’t take breaks between the songs. They just kind of find a way to jam long enough that they segue from one song into the next.

AJ: Hm.

Kristin: One thing I always like when, when like Joe and I are at Phish is they can be playing a song and then they’ll go off and start jamming and the jam will go on and on and on, and I’ve forgotten until they come back to that song.

AJ: You forgot which song they were playing.

Kristin: It’s like oh yeah, that’s what song they were originally playing.

AJ: Which is very jazzy.

Kristin: Yeah.

AJ: Yeah, I think, too, I think that, y’know, because it especially it has its roots in jazz, but this is a, I think of it as a very American kind of music. It certainly began in America and has its roots in America because jazz, y’know, is an American form of music, so…

Joe: As is rock and roll.

AJ: As is rock and roll.

Joe: Yeah.

AJ: So it’s that combination and most of the famous jambands I know are American. There may be others out there, other countries now, but certainly the Dead were American. So it kind of, for me it’s a unique part of American culture or subculture. Because it’s not the kind of music you hear a lot on the radio, even now in America. It’s very much a, like you said, it’s all about these, y’know, tours and live concerts, which is this cool scene. But you’re not going to hear it on pop radio. You just don’t hear a lot of Grateful Dead and Phish and whatever, y’know.

Joe: Yeah, that’s true because on regular radio the song has to fit into, y’know, about a 3-1/2 minute box.

AJ: Mm.

Joe: Y’know?

AJ: Right.

Joe: Because they have to play a certain number of songs and have to play a certain number of commercials.

AJ: Yep.

Joe: Now, one different medium in terms of the radio is satellite radio.

AJ: Hm.

Joe: Now satellite radio doesn’t have commercials and as a result you see jamband music being played a lot more on satellite radio stations. And actually there are a bunch of satellite radio stations that are dedicated solely to playing jamband music.

AJ: Ah, yeah, that’s great. Another great thing about the internet. It’s freeing us from that tyranny of horrible radio music.

Kristin: One of the things I like about going to see jamband music compared to just like a regular band that’s, y’know, rehearsed, it’s almost like they’re playing in the studio when they play live?

AJ: Yeah.

Kristin: Going to hear a jamband is they play a lot longer so the shows are like 3, 3-1/2 hours long and then, y’know, when Joe and I go to another show it’s like 2 hours and they’re done.

AJ: Yeah.

Kristin: It just seems so much shorter.

AJ: Yeah, the whole concert experience is so much more enjoyable.

Kristin: It is, and another thing I like is it seems like there’s more of an interaction between the musicians and the audience. Like they’re…they feed off of each other. So as the music is escalating, people are dancing more and getting into it. I don’t know, maybe there’s that same interaction going on, too, with other bands, non-jam based, but I don’t know. It just seems like there’s just more…more, y’know, people are being…the audience is being drawn in more.

AJ: Yeah, well, because they can improvise they can react to the audience, too. They’re not stuck playing exactly the same way each time.

Joe: Well, I think you’re right in what you were just saying, Kristin. And I think the reason for that is there’s a greater intimacy between the band and the audience because many people in the audience are coming to see the band play numerous times when they go out on tour. I mean a jamband fan, let’s say a fan of the band Phish, may go see that band 12 times in a year and that doesn’t even seem like that’s a lot of times.