Sunday Jam at the Shamrock

There was another chance to catch a variety of players in a jam setting this past Sunday.  Blu Union was hosting a jam at the Shamrock Pub & Grille in Waterbury.  It is always exciting to watch a jam take shape.  Different players melding together for some great sounds.  Blu Union the hosts started off.

Blu Union

The Band:

Buzzy

Nick

Chris

Billy

Buzzy acted as emcee and kept the jam moving, adding a lot of enthusiasm to the mix

The Emcee

Chris brought up a friend, Terri for some vocals.  They did a Joe Louis walker tune “I am a Soldier for Jesus.”

Terri

Next up was Nancy on fiddle.  This put some lively tunes out on the floor.  She was joined by Curtis on bass.  Being stuck in “Folsom Prison” sounded pretty good the way they did it.

Nancy

Curtis

Buzzy’s versatility was highlighted with a version of “Cheating Heart.”  Fred came up to play guitar and handle some vocals.  He did a version of “Tore Down.”  Chris did some slide.

Fred

It is always a pleasure to see Greg on stage and two weeks in a row was unexpected and as always entertaining.  He sang, did some guitar work and then hit us with some great slide work.

Greg

George came up for some harp work and Rapheal helped on guitar.

George

Rapheal

Nick hit the keyboard.

Nick

While some familiar faces added their talents to the mix, Ken on guitar and Phil on bass.

Ken

Phil

And then the day’s youngest player Nolan came up for guitar and vocals.  His is youthful but experienced and had a lot of new fans appreciating his style.

Nolan

Buzzy brought up a high school friend, Jan on drums.

Jan

Now the show at this point was pretty entertaining and made the quick drive down 84 worth it.  But there was more to come.  When the horn section was brought up the music took another dimension.  Pete is on trombone and the saxes manned by Doc and Cole.

The Horn Section

There was more to come as Don D from the Bernadette’s brought his singing and harmonica work to the crowd.  He was as good as advertised.

Don

Then Sketch came upon stage and grabbed the mic and the audience.  To me his presence on stage is commanding and with his ability to capture an audience, I really enjoyed his stage time.  Hadn’t seen him in awhile and it was a pleasant surprise.

Sketch

Well as if we didn’t have enough, the finale of the jam was “Going Down.”  Except that was only the first finale.  Buzzy said there was one more.  Blu Union played its signature song, “Purple Rain.”  He wanted to get people dancing and he did.

Ed & Lynn

This was a first for the Shamrock and hopefully the blues fans will keep coming and more Sundays are jammin’.

About bluesbeatnews52

Blues columnist writing a weekly column dedicated to the Blues. The only column of its kind in a commercial (paid subscription) newspaper. Column appears in the Middletown Press, Bristol Press, Torrington Register-Citizen, and the New Britain Herald. Forcella has served on the Board of Directors of the Blues Foundation representing the Journalism constituency. Served on the Board of Directors Connecticut Blues Society as Past President and Past Editor of newsletter. Recipient: Keeping the Blues Alive award in Journalism from the Blues Foundation. Has contributed both writing and photos to nationnal blues publications.

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