“Blues,” Jimi Hendrix is meant to have once said, “is easy to play, but hard to feel.”
It is an idea that has captivated musicians since the earliest emergence of blues in the mid 1800s. The structure of the blues is largely simple — often three chords, solos in one scale — but mastering it, making that work, so often proves elusive. It is why there is only one B.B. King, and thousands of players who never make it past their bedroom door.
But blues is also about a sense of musical camaraderie, so make it past that door they should. These jam nights are a perfect place for players of all kinds to get up, have a go, hone their chops and leave the stage electrified. Well, unless you’re doing Lemon Jefferson numbers, perhaps.
In the unpretentious surrounds of the Leytonstone Ex-Servicemens Club — some decent beers, mind — comes a much-loved jam every Monday, that draws all sorts. The jam is so well regarded its rules (“don’t be a d***,” in sum) have been widely adopted up and down the country. Standards of musicianship are generally very good, and for some reason this draws an unusually high number of harmonica players, which always perks things up.
You could miss Piano, its doorway set back from the road and squeezed in beside the Barbican Subway. But downstairs is a tiny jazz bar of red velvet and cocktails and chandeliers. Up the front is a stage; where every Thursday a jam night runs from 7-10.30pm. Don’t let the bar’s name put you off: players of every instrument are welcome, as well as singers, and usually some extraordinarily good sorts get up. Piano requests are taken afterwards till late.
Slim Jim’s Liquor Store
No surprise that the blues jam at this rockers’ club is slightly louder and faster than some others. Yellowstone Bourbon sponsor the weekly Wednesday night sessions, which pays for stellar house band Recked Blues, whose guitarist Mete Ege has backed everyone from Steely Dan’s Elliott Randall to George Michael. Expect a night of thudding drums, screaming guitars, and a crowd in black leather and denim.
Likely London’s best known blues jam at likely London’s best known blues bar. Ain’t Nothin’ But… does all the blues in all its different shades, from Robert Johnson to Howlin’ Wolf and Albert Collins. Its popularity means the standard at both the Monday night and Sunday afternoon sessions tends to be very high — and even draws a few pros, including Ian Siegal and Vasti Jackson. It is somewhere that swings.
Living up to its name, the Camden outpost of the Blues Kitchen has been hosting its Sunday night sessions for some 16 years now. The crowd is usually game and lively — perhaps thanks to the brunch the restaurant has from 11am — and the blues plays tends to lean towards the Chicago style; lots of guitar solos and shuffling rhythms. Dancing is encouraged.
Purely as a pub, the Spice of Life on Cambridge Circus is overshadowed by its more famous neighbour (and the Standard’s favourite pub), the Coach and Horses. But what keeps its regulars regular is all the events it puts on — including the Monday night blues jam from 8pm, run by Dove Jones and The Connection (doors from 7.30pm). With room for eight on the stage, expect to be part of a big band, in a venue where Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Cat Stevens all once played. Jazzers should come for the jazz jam every Sunday at 1pm.
Battersea’s Magic Garden is one of those pubs where its charms lie in its quirks. It’s famed among locals for its eccentric schedule: you might have Balkan music one night, Celtic rock the other. But it also hosts “FunkshyBeats Showcase & Jam Session”, which is a blues, soul and funk jam on the last Thursday of every month. Not, then, pure blues, but definitely worth seeking out.