Get Up, Get Out, and JAM, Part 2: BaBa’s Jam

Welcome to the next segment in our ongoing effort to promote playing some music with people you don’t know while making new friends and great memories.

Another fun thing about Jams is how they can make any special occasion extra special. On this occasion we celebrate our friends' anniversary. Fifteen years they've been together and BaBa, who hosts a regular blues jam, was delighted to lend her famous jam to celebrate.

Bud and Karen Hamberg are a fixture at live music events in San Diego. Bud hosts Jams and sits in at local venues around the county. Great players from the San Diego blues scene showed up and let them know how much they are appreciated.

BaBa's Jam is a weekly jam held at the Elks Lodge in Oceanside, CA. Elks lodges are great for jams. They usually have food, booze, a dance floor and regulars to supplement the crowd. BaBa started doing her Jam Nights in Hollywood right across the street from Motown at Sunset and Vine during the 1980s, and she works very hard to make her JAM a great experience for every musician as well as the audience.

An appreciative crowd of Elks and local blues fans grabbed budget-friendly food and drink and settled in at one of the many tables. A bunch of great musicians lined up to play. The lodge seats plenty and has a large dance floor area that we used for the "stage."

Since it was a special occasion, I brought our trailer full of toys to play with. We got there at the last minute due to traffic and set up in record time. Once everyone had their stuff up there, the stage really looked great. A huge semicircle of amps and cool guitars, a piano and Steve's very cool retro Gretch set of traps. There were so many amps we had to reroute the lighting to different circuits to leave all the stage circuits free for the players.

We had a little piano music from an Elk in a 3-foot green velvet hat while we set up. It was an eclectic group of really talented local talent and they got to know each other while we warmed things up.

A Baba Jam tradition, Dixie (at left) started us out with some classic a capella tunes we could all sing with, which we did with much gusto. I'm afraid we overwhelmed her a bit, but like a trooper she forged on and we all had fun laughing and singing. It was a great start.

I won't go into too much detail but, as always, I'm fascinated by the stories. You meet such interesting people at jams. From pros that perform every weekend to weekend songwriters venting their emotions. That night was no different.