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Jam band is a term that refers to bands, albums, festivals, etc., that relate directly or indirectly to the jam band culture. The concerts of such Bands may feature extended Musical Improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns.1 Jam bands may exist within a variety of genres, including Rock , Psychedelic Rock , Heavy Metal , Progressive Rock , Funk , Progressive Bluegrass , Blues , Country Music , Folk Music , World Music , Electronica , and Jazz Fusion . Psychedelic Rock influenced many early jam bands during the 1960s and 1970s. Seminal groups include the Grateful Dead ,2 Cream , The Jimi Hendrix Experience , Pink Floyd , Frank Zappa ,3 and The Allman Brothers Band .4 The jazz music of the 40's and 50's was also integral to the development of the improvisational/jam genre. HISTORY Mid-1960s-1970s The label ''jam band'' most likely originates from the word jam session, wherein a group of musicians perform a "short, free improvised passage". 5 Modern jam bands, however, will often improvise large sections, producing songs of unpredictable length. Jam bands improvise around the Chord Progression s of songs, or on repeated Ostinato riffs or basslines. As with all music, the connection between the artist and the listener is paramount. Improvisation also occurs, therefore, around the mood or feeling of the audience as interpreted by the band. Jam bands' lengthy onstage improvisations may be related to the Guitar Solo s performed in traditional Rock Music . Some jam bands only perform this type of jamming, while other bands engage in Free Improvisation , spontaneously composing music onstage with all members contributing an equal role in the progression of the jam. The first generation of jam bands, which developed in the mid-1960s and early 1970s, sprang from the lengthy improvisational sessions of the seminal groups like the Grateful Dead and Cream . Other first-generation jam bands include: The Allman Brothers Band , Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention , Hot Tuna , The Jimi Hendrix Experience , New Riders Of The Purple Sage , Quicksilver Messenger Service , Santana and others. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Grateful Dead dominated the jam band concert market due to intense support from the extremely devoted Deadhead s. Mid-1980s-mid-2000s In the mid-1980s, the bands Phish , Ozric Tentacles , Widespread Panic , Bela Fleck And The Flecktones , and Aquarium Rescue Unit , began touring and playing jam band-style concerts. These groups' fame increased in the early 1990s. Bands such as Blues Traveler , Dave Matthews Band , Primus , and the Spin Doctors also came from the same jam band scene, playing jam-friendly venues and festivals. In some cases, their improvisations have taken a backseat to more polished material, which may be due to their crossover commercial successes, MTV videos, and mainstream radio airplay. Most notable in early jam band history was the obvious influence of the Grateful Dead. In the early 1990s, a new generation of jam bands was spurred on by the Grateful Dead 's touring and the increased exposure of Phish , Widespread Panic , and Aquarium Rescue Unit . Many new bands were formed in the blooming jam band scene, including Rusted Root , Dispatch , Gov't Mule , Leftover Salmon , Jambay, Moe. , and String Cheese Incident . During the summer of 1995, the venerable Grateful Dead guitarist, frontman, and genre spokesman Jerry Garcia died. During the same period, Phish rose to prominence, and bands such as Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveler became successful. Phish's rise in popularity in the mid 1990s may be attributed to the death of Jerry Garcia and subsequent terminus of the Grateful Dead in 1995. However, a rapidly expanding concert-going market in the early 1990s saw Phish playing mid-sized amphitheaters already in 1993 and 1994. The void left by the sudden departure of the Grateful Dead may have helped to give impetus to the fertile jam scene that came after. The surviving members created a band called The Other Ones, and then officially became The Dead. From the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, jam bands tended to be more influenced by started out playing covers of Phish songshttp://www.phantasytour.com/bisco/shows.cgi?showID=611. Notable bands from this period include: Animal Liberation Orchestra , Assembly Of Dust , Benevento/Russo Duo , The Breakfast , The Disco Biscuits , Ekoostik Hookah , Galactic , Garaj Mahal , John Butler Trio , Keller Williams , Medeski, Martin, And Wood , Moe. , The New Deal , New Monsoon , Oysterhead , Particle , Perpetual Groove , RAQ , The Slip , Soulive , Sound Tribe Sector 9 , Tea Leaf Green , ThaMuseMeant , Umphrey's McGee , Widespread Panic and Yonder Mountain String Band . MID-2000S-PRESENT The current state (2007) of the Jam band scene is multi-genre. Genre mixing has always been welcome in the jam band community (see Grateful dead's bluegrass influence), but is now much more prevalent. In the past, it was common for a band like Phish or the Grateful Dead to experiment with Disco , Funk , Jazz , Bluegrass , etc., but overall, they would still be thought of more as a rock band. Today's Yonder Mountain String Band and String Cheese Incident are generally considered to be bluegrass, however both groups find themselves playing across several genres. Dirty Dozen Brass Band and The Primate Fiasco are traditional jazz bands who "jam". The Disco Biscuits have generated an electronic sound for their jams and have been integral in creating a new sound for "jam bands." More "jam bands" today are moving toward the electronic sound and some expect this movement to continue. Another electronic band is Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9); they boast bass-driven jams without lyrics and have developed a substantial audience. Bands like moe. and One-Eyed jack bring together a classic rock sound mixed with a psychadelic groove and extended jamming sessions. Global rhythm bands such as Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra have become a welcome addition to the jam band scene. Gov't Mule, Widespread Panic, and The Dead have all refocused and captivated audiences after sudden deaths or departing members. Spin-offs from the Grateful Dead, such as Bob Weir & Ratdog , and Phil Lesh & Friends are still touring internationally and have thousands of dedicated fans. Many bands are forming Allstar jams. The Grateful Dead's Bob Weir once noted, in response to a Jim Ladd question in a 1980s "Interview" where he described the Dead's music, it is simply "intuitive improvisational music". JAM SCENE The contemporary jam scene has grown to encompass bands from a great diversity of musical genres. A new genre of jam-band music uses live improvisation that mimics the sounds of DJ s and Electronica musicians and has been dubbed "trancefusion" (a fusion between Trance Music and Rock N' Roll ), although most electronica enthusiasts would point out that the trancefusion style is strictly based on House Music rhythms. The Disco Biscuits helped to promote this shift in the jam-band aesthetic, as they were one of the early Phish -influenced jam bands to incorporate electronic music sounds and experiment with trancefusion. Bands who have a similar style to The Disco Biscuits , such as Lotus, Sound Tribe Sector 9 , Signal Path, Brothers Past , Particle , and The New Deal are rapidly joining the "jamtronica" style in the music world. Jam band fans also listen to Progressive Rock such as Umphrey's McGee as well as jazz, fusion, and funk bands such as Garaj Mahal , Medeski, Martin, And Wood , and Galactic . Even Progressive Bluegrass bands such as Yonder Mountain String Band , Nickel Creek , and Railroad Earth are popular. Dixieland and traditional New Orleans jazz have also fused with the jam band scene with bands like Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the early pioneer Dr. John . A reincarnation of the seminal New Orleans funk outfit The Meters often plays jam festivals and venues now under the name The Funky Meters. Yet another jam band, Perpetual Groove, mixes things up by incorporating traditional jam based grooves, with tribal and folk astheitcs while blending potent lyrical energy, with blistering light shows and unprecedented live performances. While not considering themselves strictly in the Jam band genre, Perpetual Groove certainly expands and defines what Jam bands can achieve in live performances. .]] For many jam fans, particularly those in their late 20's located in urban pockets around the country, the demise of Phish and rise of indie rock led to a general backlash against the jam band stigma in 2004. As cited in both the December/January 2006 issue of Relix magazine and a contemporaneous issue of the Village Voice, the term post-jam has come to define a group of more song-oriented live bands with roots in the jam scene. Perhaps more unified by their fans than their sound, post-jam acts like the Slip, the Benevento/Russo Duo, Lord Jeff, Apollo Sunshine, Sam Champion, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and RANA appeal to a contingent of concert-goers who grew up on jam bands but who shifted their interests to groups like Wilco and Radiohead largely through the festivalization of the music industry. Like Neil Young's influence on Grunge , My Morning Jacket can be seen as the “godfather” of the post-jam scene, a song-oriented country-rock band with a knack for improvisation. Important proto-typical post-jam albums include the Slip’s ''Eisenhower'', the Duo’s ''Play Pause Stop'', Lord Jeff's '' Tavistock '' and Apollo Sunshine’s ''Katonah''. The Midwest Progressive Rock/Jam Band Umphrey's Mcgee was labeled by Rolling Stones Magazine to be the odds on favorite to take over the jam band scene after the dismise of former "jam king" Phish. An Umphrey's Mcgee rock show can take listeners through several different types of genres in one evening. From Rock, Metal, Raggae, Country, Jazz, Electronic, as well as many others. But with the 2006 album "Safety in Numbers," these once jam band heroes might be trying to take a step into a more Progressive Rock area. Guitarist and vocalist Brendan Bayliss was quoted saying, "We're a Rock band that jams." There are well over 20 large-scale jam band music festivals each year, but the largest and most famous of these is Bonnaroo Music And Arts Festival . This concert brings together not only jam bands, but also artists from a wide range of music, such as jazz and bluegrass and also various stand-up comics. More recently the acts have not been predominantly "jam bands" and have moved more towards the "Indy Rock" genre. The festival is held annually in Tennessee in mid-June and attracts anywhere from 60,000-100,000 fans each year. The diverse genres and styles of the jam band scene are held together by a common musical approach: an emphasis on creative improvisation and live performance as opposed to structured, arranged live performances and planned studio recordings. Additionally, another common thread uniting all of the jam bands today is a common fan base of festival-goers and touring fans. TAPING Jam bands usually encourage their fans to make tapes or recordings of their live shows, a practice which many other musical genres call "illegal bootlegging". The Grateful Dead encouraged this practice, which helped to create a thriving scene around the collecting and trading of recordings of Grateful Dead live performances. Most of the live shows on the Grateful Dead's 30 years of touring were recorded. '' (1969) by the Grateful Dead . Critic Robert Christgau remarked that it contained the "finest rock improvisation ever recorded".6]] It was probably the trading of recordings of Grateful Dead shows which built the band's fan base. The bands sold "taper" tickets for a taper's section which had a soundboard line-out for the tapers to record from. This type of encouragement has spread to nearly all of the jam bands. Some jam band enthusiasts argue that if a band does not allow fans to tape their live shows, this band is not actually a jam band in the Grateful Dead tradition. Fans trade recordings and collect recordings of different live shows because improvisational jam bands play their songs differently at each performance. Fans can collect various versions of their favorite songs. They can keep track of how many times a specific song has been played, and thus increase the momentousness of a rare song being dusted off and played live, or played for the first time.One such event was The Grateful Dead's playing of "Unbroken Chain," a song bass-player Phil Lesh penned (and sang), and a fan-favorite from the Dead's much-loved ''From The Mars Hotel'' (1974) LP, in their final year together. The reemergence of their archetypal jam song "Dark Star" after years of absence from the repertoire is another such event. Some bands play with this phenomena by throwing short little "teases" into their sets. Playing, for example, a few bars of a famous cover song or hinting at a popular jam and then either never getting around to playing the song, or coming back to it after an extended jam. The use of Segue s to blend strings of songs together is another mark of a jam band, and one which makes for treasured tapes.Fans will frequently wax rhapsodic about performances such as "that one show where Phish segued out of 'Fee', into 'Stash', into 'You Enjoy Myself', and then back into 'Stash' again." JAM BANDS DOWNLOADS Archived jam band downloads are available at Live Music Archive . Nugs.net is also a source for music and provides MP3 and FLAC files. Asking for B&P's or trades is part of being in the phamily. Peer-to-peer trading is also a common way for fans to trade recordings of live shows. The Furthur Network is a site for trading jam band recordings.for examples, go to: http://www.jambands.com/deansdownloads/ Moe or http://www.jambands.com/deansdownloads/index.php?start=9 Steve Kimock and The Slip, Soulive, Merl Saunders and host Peter Prince for a version of the Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing.” In 2005, Relix Magazine lanuched its own podcast, ''Cold Turkey'', hosted by writers Benjy Eisen and Mike Greenhaus. More bands have been distributing their latest shows online. Bands such as Phish , Widespread Panic , The String Cheese Incident , Gov't Mule , Umphrey's McGee , Ben Harper , and The Disco Biscuits have been offering digital downloads within weeks of concerts. The Grateful Dead have begun to offer online, digital download only, live releases from their archives as well. While there is some obvious conflict of interest between the "free and open trading of shows" and artists packaging and selling the same shows for money, a dynamic equilibrium has been reached where die-hards trade and others are happy to pay for the convenience. Some venues offer kiosks where fans may purchase a digital recording of the concert and download it to a USB Flash Drive or another portable digital storage device. Some bands, including The Allman Brothers, offer Instant Lives , which are concert recordings made available for purchase on Compact Disc shortly after the show ends. Most major music festivals also offer instant digital live recordings at the event. The fact that these shows are available and freely traded doesn't diminish their commercial popularity. Every show of Phish's famous "Live Phish" series or the Dead's "Dick's Picks" series and their spin-offs are all available freely in lossless digital format should one be willing to dig or trade for them; and yet, people regularly plunk down large sums of cash for these "official" versions largely due to their excellent graphics, liner notes, packaging, and often superior, polished sound quality. VENUES AND FESTIVALS In the August 2006 issue of ''Guitar One'' on jam bands, the following places were referred to as the "best places to see jam music": Red Rocks Amphitheater ; Red Rocks Park , Denver, CO ; Jam Cruise , Fort Lauderdale, FL ; The Gorge Amphitheatre , George, Washington ; High Sierra Music Festival , Quincy, CA ; The Greek Theater , Berkeley, CA ; Bonnaroo Music Festival , Manchester, TN ; The Warfield Theater , San Francisco, CA ; The Barrymore Theater , Madison, WI ; Higher Ground , Burlington, Vermont ; and the '' Jam In The Dam '' in Amsterdam . One way to see many jam bands in one place is by going to a jam band-oriented in Manchester, Tennessee; the aforementioned High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, California; All Good in West Virginia; Langerado in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Wakarusa Music And Camping Festival in Lawrence, Kansas ; 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota; the Gathering Of The Vibes ; the Garden Of Eden Festival in Greenfield, Mass.; Camp Bisco in Hunter Mountain, New York; Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado; Hookahville in Ohio; Schwagstock in Missouri; Moe.down in Turin, New York; and Vegoose in Nevada. Also Illinois hosts Summercamp in Chillicothe Illinois. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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