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Blues jam is a sweet spread
One Bad Jack and Friends make the blues feel good
Friday, Feb. 15, 2008
That is not to say people won’t drive long distances to listen — or even play.
At a recent jam hosted by One Bad Jack at the Beach Cove Restaurant in Chesapeake Beach, several of the participants came from as far away as Northern Virginia just to haul out their case of mouth organs and plug in their bass guitars to the system set up at the back end of the bar.
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL
Lead singer Wave Milor of One Bad Jack plays the harmonica on a song at Beach Cove in Chesapeake Beach during a blues jam Wednesday night.
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It’s the love of the music that got the whole jam thing going, according to Crescenze, who initiated the regular event at Beach Cove more than three years ago.
‘‘It’s a nice feeling giving people who don’t really have the time to get out and play with a band a chance to do so,” he said. ‘‘And we get some top-notch people down here from D.C., which gives everyone an opportunity to play with people you wouldn’t normally be able to.”
Guitar Shorty, also known as David Kearney, was Jimi Hendrix’ ex-brother-in-law. When the Texas blues guitarist was performing in the Washington, D.C., area recently, Kearney showed up after learning about the Calvert County jam.
As well as hosting jams, the band performs at venues around the region and as well as attending jams hosted by other bands. That brings its own rewards.
‘‘Some of the people Wave and I have met [at those jams] play in ours,” Crescenze said. ‘‘Mike, our regular drummer now, showed up here a year ago.”
It’s about 7:30 p.m. at Beach Cove on a Wednesday night. There are a number of people already in the bar at the restaurant. Crescenze and his mates are setting up the electronic equipment everyone will use when the evening begins. Speakers, amps and mikes are placed on the small, raised stage and against the wall opposite the bar there are already a number of guitar and mouth organ cases.
Waiting patiently at the bar is a performer ready to play. ‘‘Doc” Estes, his drumsticks sitting beside his drink, watches as the guys set up the gear.
‘‘My mother wanted me to be a doctor,” he said when asked about his nickname. ‘‘That didn’t happen.”
But drumming did. He’s been playing for 40 years and joined in the fun when the jam began at Beach Cove.
‘‘I’ve played country, rock and roll, bluegrass, a little bit of jazz and now I’m into blues,” Estes said. ‘‘I love to play.”
‘‘It’s a good time for us to try out new songs,” Milor explained after he plugged in the mikes.
The four musicians got together after doing what their guest performers were about to do — they met while attending jams elsewhere and found a common appreciation of each others’ talents. Now they play and give other the chance to perform.
‘‘Our main purpose is to bring the equipment and fill in where not enough people show up,” Crescenze said. ‘‘There’s a sign-up sheet and I put together what I think will give everyone the best time.
‘‘Most of the performers are younger, in their 20s and 30s,” he added. ‘‘Over the four years we’ve been playing, we’ve built up a huge pile of people who show up occasionally and play. We’re fortunate that we have people who will follow us around and actually we’ve picked up a pretty good following from the jams.”
Crescenze’s already looked at the sign-ups and put together the first group before One Bad Jack takes the stage to warm up the room and get the crowd into a blues mood.
The implication of ‘‘the blues” is sadness and bad luck but the music itself is almost entirely upbeat. Even the slower pieces have a pleasant, steady rhythm.
Milor bends down and pulls out one of his mouth organs from the case.
‘‘C,” he says. He mouths a few chords and the band is off and running with a fired-up opener.
The song ends and Crescenze, recognizing a man with a guitar case coming in the door, calls out, ‘‘Glad to see you could make it.”
‘‘I was heading for Virginia and took that wrong turn at Albuquerque,” came the response.
‘‘I hate when that happens,” Crescenze answered.
‘‘That’s Dave Galloway,” he leaned over and told me. ‘‘He comes from Silver Spring and shows up here a lot.”
The music continues with a variety of blues sounds, from something like Zydeco to the swing blues which has a swing beat like the wheels of a choo-choo train.
‘‘Can’t Get That Stuff No More.” ‘‘I Gotta Honey-Do Woman.”
The songs are familiar to blues aficionados but new to those just beginning to experience the music.
The band stops and it’s time for the first group of guest performers. Not all of the people on the list have played together or even know each other. Crescenze builds the groups from having seen them perform before and trying to match their skill levels. Not everyone who gets on stage has a vast amount of experience.
Don Dirkin, 16, was 13 when the band saw him perform at the Country Store. He more than holds his own playing guitar in the second set.
The music is unrehearsed, the musicians just grab their instruments (‘‘Please tune up somewhere so that when your name is called you’re ready to go,” Crescenze asks of the performers.), plug in and play.
Sometimes the pairings get off to a rough start and then the lead sets them on another musical path and the blues run on.
No matter how much experience they have, they’re willing to get up and play.
Dave Watson, who travels from Alexandria, Va., to jam, said he likes coming to Beach Cove.
‘‘Usually I get to play a lot. I’ll probably get up a second time,” he said after finishing the first set. He’s only been playing bass for four years.
‘‘I’ve always liked the Fabulous Thunderbirds from the early ‘80s. I said, ‘how hard can this be?’ I sure found out,” he added with a chuckle.
It’s 9:30 p.m. and the fourth set is about to begin. People are still coming in through the doors, instruments in hands.
Midnight will come pretty fast, though, even if they are all singing the blues.
