Victoria Wasserman belts out cover song Me & Bobby McGee at the HOB Blues Jam this past Wednesday night. She’s accompanied by Jacinto Castaneda and Dave Keefer on guitar and Pat Kelley on keyboard. Not sure who was on drums or playing the bass.
The Lance Dieckmann Band plays until 1am at the SpeakEasy on Wednesdays, so I headed there after the HOB jam to get some more of my blues fix. The crowd had thinned out temporarily after a busy night when they played the iconic Robert Cray cover song Right Next Door. Lance Dieckmann has the voice for this song, and he was well supported with Phil Diiorio on lead guitar and Larry Morgan on bass guitar.
Wednesdays are one of my favorite blues nights of the week and usually starts at the JammingOut (www.JammingOut.net) and BLUSD (www.blusd.org) blues jams on the free stage at House of Blues. Last night was a full house of musicians who got up to play throughout the evening and an audience of locals and visitors.
Christine Gilardi took the lead and rocked the house singing and playing guitar to the great Etta James cover song The Sky is Crying in this video. She is accompanied by Neil Jones on lead guitar, Junya Isogawa on guitar, Kevin Cooper on bass and Rene Wooley on drums.
We don’t hear reggae too often at this jam, but Rosalie Thomas showed up with her steel drums and delighted us with the UB40 cover song I Want to Make You Sweat. Also on stage was Michael Minor on drums, Kevin Cooper on bass (and vocals) and Ray Zvetina on guitar.
This week we have another good line up of blues jams and bands around town.
In addition… at the House of Blues, Lafayette Blues Band will be playing Thursday night 7-11 and the weekly Wednesday night jam is also happening there from 7-11. Hope to see you there!
After HOB jam ended, I headed over to the Gaslamp SpeakEasy to catch the Lance Dieckmann Band, which is always there on Wednesday nights until 1am.
I got so caught up in dancing, I almost forgot to get some video of them until they did this nice slow song. Lance Dieckmann on harmonica and vocals, Phil Diiorio on guitar and Larry Morgan on bass.
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.
This week there is a good line up of blues all around the downtown area, and most of it is in the Gaslamp. Tiffany Jane is new to me, and I’m not really sure how to peg her blues sound, so I’m going with her blues/pop listing. She sounds more like Amy Winehouse or Norah Jones to me, so not quite sure that is really blues. Let me know what you think.
There is also a full week of jams to check out. Monday at SpeakEasy, Tuesday at Patrick’s, Wednesday at House of Blues free stage 7-11 (not on schedule since don’t offer discount), Thursday at Spaguetteria, and Saturday afternoon at SpeakEasy with young adults who are really talented and great blues musicians.
This week there is more blues happening at Kona Kai and at House of Blues, which isn’t on the schedule since they don’t offer the drink discount. There is the weekly BLUSD jam (Blues Lovers United of San Diego – go to www.blusd.org to support our local blues society!) on Wednesday nights from 7-11pm and this week Lafayette and his blues band will also be on the HOB free stage on Friday night starting at 7pm.
Jams are also happening Monday night at the SpeakEasy, Tuesday at Patrick’s and Thursday at Spaguetteria in Little Italy. And up at Croce’s Park West in Banker’s Hill, Fuzzy Rankins Blues Band will be playing Friday night starting at 8pm.
I have missed hearing Annette’s incredible voice and the way she sings the blues, mixing it in with her jazz roots when she plays with her jazz band at the Gaslamp Speakeasy every Thursday night. She is fun, personable and wonderful to listen to. I will definitely be back more often!
Here she is singing that great cover song, Got My Mojo Workin’, with band members Doc Holiday on keys, Tony Peterson on drums and Doug Brunelle on bass guitar.
Here’s another clip of them doing the cover song Hard to Handle.
If you haven’t heard Annette’s group in person, you are missing a special evening and a real treat. They also play at Magnolia Tap & Kitchen about once a month. Check my calendar to see when they will play there next.
The JammingOut/BLUSD jam on Wednesday nights brings in new faces every week, and last night was no exception. Bryan Whelan (on guitar) and Mellie Frances (vocals) showed up and they performed cover song, Thrill is Gone, with Irakli Aladash on bass and Steve Douglas on drums.
