Best open jam session in your area???

Open jams are a wonderful way for musicians to get stage experience, hone their skills, and try out new ideas in front of a live audience. I'm interested to see what many of you have to say about the open jam sessions in your area, why you like them, and what you think they offer over other open jams.

I guess I'll start this one off. I frequently play at an open blues jam at a club in Philadelphia, PA called Warmdaddy's. The jam is held every Tuesday night. There is no cover to get in. There is no food or drink minimum. It is totally conceivable that a musician could just walk in, have a seat, and listen to music without spending a dime (this rarely happens since most order a drink or two and the food there is pretty good -- but it's nice to know that its possible). The place draws a decent sized crowd, but rarely gets so crowded that you can't get a seat at a table or at the bar. The jam attracts players of all ages and at all levels of ability. There is no fee to play. And most importantly, the people running the jam and the crowd are always very encouraging and appreciative of the people who get on stage to perform.

Blues bars seem to be the most welcoming when it comes to letting people sit in.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has two major venus for jams.

The King Edward Hotel (The King Eddie) has open jams every Sunday afternoon, usually hosted by the house band led by Bill Dowey. When you get up on that stage you've got the best backing you could hope for, and a good audience.

The Kaos Blues and Jazz Cafe holds jams on Tuesday evening and weekend afternoons. These sessions are hosted by a regular rotation of local bands, and the weekend headliners often join in.

Last night a local harp player and and a guitar player were called up on stage by the Sam C o ckerell Band in separate sets. If it gets better than that for a guy who sits in for a song or two on a Saturday afternoon, I wanna know where!

(I had to mess up Sam's name a bit to get it past Big Brother!)

[Edited by Lordathestrings on 12-16-2001 at 01:52 PM]

You guys are lucky!!
I live in the second biggest town in france, and all we have now are Rap venues (don't know if it exists anywhere else) Marseille, my town, is considered the french capital for rap music, so everyone has jumped on the bandwagon, and when I get in a bar, or a pub, with my guitar, it usually stays in its case, since there's only rappers, or groups that don't want to jam... So, I have given up trying to jam, and I play music for a living, writing songs and cues for tv, but I miss the feel of a cool blues with a band...

1st french ticklers...now french rappers?

you should listen to them, they suck!