Portland Collection Jam Culture

Years ago when I first discovered the Portland Collection books and recordings I never dreamed of playing in tune jams with the people involved in that project. But now that I live near Portland I get to sometimes play in jams with Sue Songer, George Penk, and Betsy Branch. I didn't get to meet Clyde Curley since he doesn't live in Portland anymore. 

The Portland contra jam culture is open and friendly. Each participant gets a chance to pick a tune. You can lead it yourself or have someone else lead it at a tempo comfortable for you. Occasionally there are medleys, but most of the time it's just one tune played many times through. The general rule of thumb is when you think it's been enough times, play it one or two more times! Kind of like how it's done in old-time music.

These are play by ear sessions. They don't actually use the books and instead trust in the folk process to bring the tunes to life as best as can be remembered or interpreted in the moment. The tunes are a mixture of the ones that have been taught over the years at tune teaching sessions and consist of Irish, New England, old-time, Québécois and more, including newer tunes that would have likely made it into Volume 4 if Volume 3 weren't the last book in the series.

I like the variety and it's exposing me to tunes I had either never heard before or forgot that I knew, including Fair Jenny's Jig, William Blake's Dead, All the Way to Galway, Road to Boston, Da Lounge Bar, The Flowers of Autumn, Hut on Staffin Island, Scotty O'Neil's, Shoes and Stockings, McLenon's Reel, and Wilbur's March, to name a few. 

If I may toot my own horn, the format is similar to the fiddle tunes jam I used to host on Saturday mornings in Ashland, VA. Back then I suffered from beginner's naivete which caused me to doubt whether trying to mix the Irish session and old-time jam repertoire was a good idea. You'd have people used to playing Irish music, sometimes on diatonic "D" instruments, interacting with old-time fiddlers and clawhammer banjo players who are used to tuning to a certain key. Going from a E-Dorian jig to a C-tune was tough. But we made it work and always had a good turnout.

We didn't have a piano player comping out chords on the beat like Sue Songer does, though. That piano sound is integral to the contra style and it's wonderful to be able to hear it in person. After two years in Oregon, I'm ready to add more of these Portland Collection type tunes to my repertoire!

***

Be a Fan