Jazz Jam in Montclair

Went to a jazz jam in the basement below a Mexican Restaurant, across from the YMCA in Montclair, NJ. There used to be a jam here a year or two ago on a different night of the week, which ended. Looks like they are trying to get it started again, on Mondays this time.

There were three sax players, an upright bass, a drum set (two drummers), and a guitarist. I was the only keyboard player; I brought my KX-88 and Motif Rack, and used a little Peavey amp. Except for the drums, there was only one person per instrument, and we all played in every song.

We took turns calling tunes. Most were from the Real Book; a couple were from Book 2. Some interesting stuff happened.

The first two saxes were and alto and a tenor. The third sax player brought a tenor and a curved soprano, which he played really well. As a group, we seemed to have tuning problems. Some of the stuff was tasty though; the bass player was particularly interesting.

It was hard stuff to play but I think I did OK. We played from 8 PM to about 11. There was no audience, with a couple of minor exceptions when curious people came downstairs to listen for a few minutes.

There are a couple of unused meatlockers off the basement. One of the meatlockers had a rock band in it (somehow, that seems appropriate), but we could not hear them at all while we were playing.