FOR THOSE WHO JAM BLUES AT CAFE'S

[lawrence]

O.k I need help, I have been playing for a couple of years and am quite interested in learning some blues standards to play at cafes, etc. with a bass player and a drummer. What do people want to hear at these venues. Please give a list of songs or artists that would be suitable, please don't just list good blues artists, but artists that you have immitated and have successfully pleased the crowds whilst they sip a chandy or a coffee and croisont.... Remember, there are plenty of people in my boat, we need standards that please. (please only write a reply if you have played in cafe bands at some time in your career)

[lawrence]

Great question, I need answers to this one too. (its not the same guy)

[Guildy]

Hey people, who says you need "blues" tunes to put out a "blues" sound? While I myself have been into blues music for quite a while. I found when I was starting out that if you would take any song and just elongate the piece with a good "bluesy" shuffle and a few spicey turnarounds the crowd knew no different and all their heads were bopping because they were familiar with the original tune. For instance, Dylans' watching the river flow. Beautiful tune to use because you can speed it up anyway you want, AND, you can add to it anywhere in the piece and make it YOUR tune. The same for Kristofferson. How about Bobby McGee? Notice how Joplin changed things around for her and Big Brother.( you have to be familiar with the original recording to see my point.)OK, so you also want to know some song names...how about feels like rain:Buddy Guy,
or how about..any place i'm going beats any place I've been
Otis Rush, or...love,life and money; Johnny Winter, man the list just goes on and on and on...
Guildy

[Bardsley]

There are advantages to doing relatively unknown things too. Last night I saw a band do Hendrix's Message to Love so woefully it took me about 5 minutes to figure out what it was. Bad Hendrix makes me cry. After that they did an awful version of Gloria. Not a good night. They were just amateurs getting togetherr for the night, and I have seen them each do otehr stuff well, but they could tell they were no good and packed up really soon.

[Lordathestrings]

If you can get smooth with the basic blues shuffle, you can keep most people happy with approximations of SRV's "Cold Shot" and "Pride'n'Joy".

If you're confident that you can do some classy solo work, you can add some slow material like Albert King's "Blues At Sunrise". Realisticly, you can only plan on one slow song per set (none in the first set). People come out to have a good time, and blues are actually fairly upbeat music. The lyrics can be about pain and misery, but the tunes should have a smooth groove.

Stuff like "Caledonia" goes over well, 'cause its familiar. I recommend an old Canadian band called the Downchild Blues Band. If they can't show how its done, you're just not payin' attention! :D

Newer material, like "Blue On Black" from Kenny Wayne Shepherd is sure-fire (and its easy to play!!)

While you're starting out, it helps to remember that almost everyone in the audience will give a tune 9 out of 10 if it has a good beat, and its easy to dance to. The remaining few, who know a thing or two about music, will be OK if they can see that you really are trying to put on a good show.

Best of Luck!