JammingOut at HOB had a full house and one good set after another Wednesday night. It was a great night.
Returning for a third time to the jam was Willie Simmons, who got up to perform a song I’ll call Good Woman (not sure what the song is really called), and rocked the house. He was on stage with Jacinto Castaneda and Rich Giglio on guitars, Matt Casey on drums, Earl Pratt on bass and two sax players I don’t know.
In the next set, Kammie Thomas sang BB King’s cover song Thrill is Gone, with Jacinto Casteneda and Fuzzy Rankins on guitars, Kevin Cooper on bass, Reggie Ford on drums.
The night ended with Fuzzy Rankins and Lafayette Falkquay singing and playing guitars together, along with Kevin Cooper on bass, Timothy on drums, and the two sax players whose names I didn’t catch
Many of the regular musicians were at the JammingOut at HOB last night, including Nick Butterfield and Rich Giglio – on guitars together (once again) and performing “English Invasion” songs. As Rich explained to me, from British bands in the 60s and 70s who brought their blues rock to America, which they both enjoy.
Here they are playing a Cream cover song Crossroads, with Nick singing. The vocal mic didn’t pick up as well as it usually does – not sure why. They are on stage with David Falkquay on bass, Duke Ventra on drums and Dave Lewis on harmonica.
If you have been following this blog for a while, you know I often go to the JammingOut at HOB. I can’t always get to the other jams around town, so I try to make it to this one as often as I can. It’s always good and often there are newcomers to the jam who rock the night. There were quite a few musicians there who I hadn’t seen before.
One of them was Maria Woodard, a jazz and Latin singer in San Diego, who got up and did a number of tunes. Here she is singing the Fats Domino song Kansas City. With her on stage was Rich Giglio and Doyle Thomas on guitars, Tom Safreed on harmonica, Dale Davis on bass and Steve Douglas on drums.
Nick Butterfield was back again, and he gave us an awesome performance of that great Creedence Clearwater Revival cover tune Born on the Bayou. He’s joined by Rich on guitar, Dale on bass, Dave Good on saxophone, Richie Strell playing the accordion, Reggie Ford on drums, and I’m not sure who was playing the harmonica. Enjoy!
Later, Harmonica John Frazer played and sang Steve Miller band cover song Your Cash Ain’t Nothing But Trash with Will Lovalot on guitar, Steve Welles on bass, and I believe it was Max on drums.
I got to the blues jam late, but I still caught a few sets with musicians who have become regulars at the jam.
Here is Rich Giglio performing cover song Jump Jive An’ Wail, supported by Junya Isogawa on guitar, Victor Franklin on bass, David Lewis on harmonica and local newcomer to the jam, Jonathon Bachelor on drums, who says he’ll be back!
Next up on stage was Nicholas Butterfield playing guitar and singing cover song Fire, with Judd Austin on guitar, Lisa Viegas on drums, Kevin Cooper on bass.
Every Wednesday night, “JammingOut at HOB” hosts a blues jam that has developed a wonderful following in its first year, and this past Wednesday they celebrated their 1st anniversary downstairs at the House of Blues. It was a fun evening, and here are some videos I got – the lighting wasn’t great so its a bit dark and grainy, but most of it is good.
Here is Dona Aguinaldo, one of a number of wonderful female vocalists that night, who got up to sing Etta James’ cover At Last. Wow! I just wish the lighting had been better… On stage with her (and doing their own jamming solos) is Bob Sortillon (standing next to her) and Rich Giglio on guitars, Tom Safreed on harmonica, Dave Lindgren on bass, and Steve Douglas on drums. Bob, Rick and Dave also each sang some great songs, but the videos didn’t turn out.
Then Christine Gilardi performed Bonnie Rait’s cover song Love Me Like a Man. She rocks it with Somerset Barnard on guitar, Tom Safreed on harmonica, Yasha Susoeff on sax, Victor Franklin on bass and Michael Minor on drums.
Afterwards Victoria Wasserman got up with them and nailed it with that so familiar BB King (amongst others) cover song Stormy Monday.
Somerset Barnard, visiting from Brisbane Australia for a few weeks, got us up and dancing to another favorite, Got My Mojo Working.
And to end the evening we had Len Rainey, a favorite local bluesman, take the stage and sing, as only Len can do it, the cover song Kiddio. He’s joined by Doyle Thomas on guitar, Kevin Cooper on keyboards, Michael Minor on drums, David Lewis on harps – as well as Steve Lang. Again the video is a bit dark, even after lightening it up as much as I could.
The final song brought Lafayette Falkquay on the stage to join Len on bass, and they had a fun exchange as they performed Slow Down Baby together.
I only captured a bit of the evening. We also had a number of brass players (more sax, trumpet and trombone), and other performers who made it a special anniversary evening.
Next week the jam is back upstairs, but it starts 2 hours later at 9pm (for just this week).
San Diego Blues
If you love blues, the Wednesday night jam at HOB downtown, hosted by JammingOut.net, the local blues society (BLUSD) and House of Blues, is one of the great jams around town.
Here we have Justin Fools on harmonica and singing cover song No Particular Place to Go, supported by Dave Keefer and Judd Austin on guitar, Dale Davis on bass and Lisa Viegas.
The evening ended with a little fun on stage as Lafayette Falkquay sings cover song Mustang Sally, along with Junya Isogawa and Rich Giglio on guitar, Kevin Cooper on bass and Billy Wear on drums.
I got to the jam late and heard that I’d missed some incredible blues singers, who had just gotten off the stage. That happens at this jam, where talented musicians and singers often show up and if you aren’t there to catch them….
But I wasn’t disappointed for long. Rich Giglio, a local San Diego guitarist and vocalist, went up with Ron Ordon on bass guitar, Jaz Jaszewski on guitar and Kevin Cooper (who usually plays bass) on drums. Here they are doing a Stevie Ray Vaughn cover song, Flood Down in Texas.
