Best Jam Band Ever? Post Away

[werbo1]

Well for me i've really only listened to two. Dead and Phish. I like phish a lot more. Obvious reason: The Bass haha. I love some of Mike Gordon's riffs. Plus they got the whole piano thing going and great guitar riffs.

Also my band's guitar player says a Jam is really just a solo. Let's Prove Him Wrong!!!! (He says look at the Grateful Dead) Bah.

Post Away

[Floating teetH]

Phil Lesh and Friends.

My other choice would have been Widespread Panic (w/ Michael Houser, of course)

What about least favorites?

[fulcrum]

I'm still in the process of discovering The (Grateful) Dead, got a long way to go yet. I like Phish a lot more than my wife does, but I think she likes Bela Fleck and the Flecktones a lot more than I do (though I like them just fine actually).

We both agree on Dave Matthews Band though-- we like the care Matthews takes in structuring the songs that frame the jams.

[Jason Carota]

Local boys The Slip get my vote, along with the Flecktones.

[Floating teetH]

Gov't Mule recieves my honorable mention (or my second honorable mention, I suppose.)

I picked Phil and Friends over the Grateful Dead because they put the emphasis right where I like it, plus Phil Lesh is my favorite member of the Grateful Dead (if not my favorite bassist), and their drummer (Rob Marlow, if I'm not mistaken) is my favorite jam band drummer.

[werbo1]

sweet this is goin good!(for one of my posts at least)

Gov't Mule- haven't had the chance to listen to em but they com eby my town every once in a while so i'll check em out

[Against Will]

The Jam.

[Passinwind]

Best Ever? The Allman Brothers Band, of course. Only when Duane and Berry were still alive though.

Current touring bands? I'm partial to Garaj Mahal and The Slip.

[Bennito]

To me, a jam band, other than the actual style of music which is still limitless within the realm of being a jamband, but a jamband is a band willing to go as far as they have to to create music that wouldn't have been created without them going that far. I don't know if that makes sense, but to me it does.

By this definition, Allman Bros. are not a jamband. Gov't Mule are not a jam band. Neither is Widespread, Ben Harper, Dave Matthews, none of these guys.

The Dead came VERY close to it. But I would call John Coltrane a jamband (or jamperson) sooner than I'd call the Dead a Jamband. And in fact, Bob Weir would say the same thing.

Phish is by far my favorite jamband. They're the only ones who took it as far as they had to to find the music.

With The Dead it was like, "What song are they gonna go into now?" whereas with Phish it was like "This is it!"

Sorry for the ramble. To give the short answer, Phish gets my vote.

[NJL]

ARU

[Floating teetH]

I would say being a jam band has to do w/ improvising. Other than that, it's about being a part of a specific community of musicians. If Bob Weir claims the Grateful Dead is not a jam band, it's probably because, like just about all people in jam bands, he doesn't want people to label his music as anything in particular. If any band qualifies as a jam band, it's the Grateful Dead (I would happily argue this point w/ Bob Weir, and tell him to shave while i was at t). Jam bands would not really exist (as they do, anyway) if not for the Grateful Dead. That would mean no lot-rat scumbags, but it would also mean no phish, no sci, and probably even no target audience for such bands. Prog rock would be a lot more popular.

[Passinwind]

Originally Posted by Bennito

To me, a jam band, other than the actual style of music which is still limitless within the realm of being a jamband, but a jamband is a band willing to go as far as they have to to create music that wouldn't have been created without them going that far. I don't know if that makes sense, but to me it does.

By this definition, Allman Bros. are not a jamband.

Not for at least 30 years, but believe me, they were all that, and a lot more. Not only that, but like Coltrane and Miles, they wrote tunes that are timeless, and known far outside of the circle of their hardcore fans.

[Bennito]

Not to get too deep into a discussion about it, when I was saying Phish would go as far as they had to, I meant they did it by improvising. When people talk about a band or musicians breaking new ground, these guys did it on a nightly basis.

Bob Weir is absolutely content in being in a Jamband, it's what he's made his living doing. But he does credit John Coltrane, and Louis Armstrong etc. as direct influences on why the Dead did what they did.

[Passinwind]

Originally Posted by Bennito

Not to get too deep into a discussion about it, when I was saying Phish would go as far as they had to, I meant they did it by improvising. When people talk about a band or musicians breaking new ground, these guys did it on a nightly basis.

I dug what you were getting at, and I'll stand by my statements. If I go any further with this, we'll be talking about jazz, which doesn't seem like the intent of this thread.

[James Hart]

Originally Posted by Passinwind

I dug what you were getting at, and I'll stand by my statements. If I go any further with this, we'll be talking about jazz, which doesn't seem like the intent of this thread.

ain't Jam just Jazz by Jazz like players that don't play actually play Jazz?

Oh wait, they sing sometimes to....

No, I'm mistaken... Jazz guys grunt out a tune now and again too

Not to get too deep into a discussion about it

Sorry, but I don't buy what you're sellin here. I've been listening to Phish since the 1990... Bought Lawn boy on cassette after seeing them live for the first time. Great Band!! Great Shows!!! ...but IMO they don't take anything anywhere more then the next band. I think they have a great way of melding what has been into there own... Traffic, Cream, Pink Floyd, Santana, Miles, Hot Tuna, The Meters, Grover Washington Jr., The Dead, etc, etc etc MANY cats opened horizons that let Phish be. Trey and the boys were just standing on the shoulders of giants!

but whatever, I hate labels... I play Music, I listen to Music. Call it what you will

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by Against Will

The Jam.

I'm not sure if they are as good as Pearl Jam or the Jelly Jam, but personally my favourite jam band is Jamiroquai.

[Passinwind]

James,

Well spoken, I agree wholeheartedly. It's interesting to me that when I bring in a John Scofield CD for the local Phishead barmaid to play, that's "jam music". The Ornette album with Jerry on it is too, maybe. Any other Ornette album isn't, definitely.

No worries, the beauty of the jam ideal is that it's a label killer.

[Muzique Fann]

IMO they don't take anything anywhere more then the next band.


Not to start trouble, but I think the exact opposite when I think of Phish. I think they take jams "furthur" out than anybody else. Sometimes it works and it's amazing, and sometimes they fall on their face. But the point is that they're taking the risk. They've done so many adventerous and inventive things that I've never seen in any other band. The Grateful Dead really paved the way, but Phish took the bull by the horns.

[Against Will]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

I'm not sure if they are as good as Pearl Jam or the Jelly Jam, but personally my favourite jam band is Jamiroquai.

Does Green Jelly count?

[Benjamin Strange]

Originally Posted by Bennito

To me, a jam band, other than the actual style of music which is still limitless within the realm of being a jamband, but a jamband is a band willing to go as far as they have to to create music that wouldn't have been created without them going that far. I don't know if that makes sense, but to me it does.

.

That makes sense to me. And since they did play the HORDE festival.... King Crimson is the best jam band based on the above definition.

As for a band that falls a bit more squarely in the "jam band" thing, I'd have to go with Ozric Tentacles.