jam band bassists/songs to know...

[standupright]

Originally Posted by Passinwind

If you want to really "get" it, go see the bands playing it live. Recordings really never give you the whole story IME.

The Grateful Dead could take pretty much any tune and make it sound like the Dead. IMHO it's way more about the approach and interaction than about specific tunes.

absolutely +1

i played in a "jam" band about 12 years ago. we gigged about twice a week, very decent following, very much grateful dead influenced. we took just about anything we wanted to play and made it our own. interaction, listening, vamping, and improv are all very important parts of the equation. we never hit the stage with a set list. it just evolved over the evening. start with one tune, somewhere along the way....during the jam of the tune, by listening and interacting, it would evolve into another tune, and then, for a while that was good, till the improv / vamp section happened again, it would evolve again. it wasn't unheard of for us to play for 30-45 minutes without a break in the music. kinda like the scenery when taking a road trip. wonderful experience of music.

[jamfree]

Originally Posted by Bochafish

IMO, there are not really any 'standards' for the genre. Most jams I've gone to will start with an improv in a random key, usually minor. Be prepared for this situation because it almost always starts with someone saying, "Hey bass player, lay us down a groove in this key." Have a few original grooves down before hand.
Every jam band has a song with a 1-2 or 2-1 progression, like B to A. (Fire on the mountain by the Dead, etc.) Know blues changes, and a 1-5 progression and you are good.

Bochafish FTW.

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by Passinwind

The Grateful Dead could take pretty much any tune and make it sound like the Dead. IMHO it's way more about the approach and interaction than about specific tunes.

+1. You've gotta jam to get the jam-band vibe, regardless of style.

[LightGroove]

Originally Posted by IdealWay

Go see live music, first of all! Then watch the way the players interact and try to dissect what is happening musically.

One of my all-time favorites is the Steve Kimock Band (and his earlier projects: Zero & KVHW). Do yourself a favor and listen to as much of his music as possible. He's collaborated with many amazing bassists like Bobby Vega, Alphonso Johnson, Reed Mathis, Oteil Burbidge, and George Porter Jr.

Also, check out the Mickey Hart Band w/ George Porter Jr. on bass, fantastic stuff! You can watch free full-length shows at www.iclips.net.

Enjoy the trip!


(EDIT) Almost forgot! There's a band called Garaj Mahal, featuring Kai Eckhardt on the bass; they could keep you busy for a looong time. Enjoy!

Saw Garaj Mahal play a 9 hour set one time....yes 9 hrs

[IdealWay]

Originally Posted by LightGroove

Saw Garaj Mahal play a 9 hour set one time....yes 9 hrs

Did that happen to be at SmileFest back in '04? Good memories

[BWB]

Originally Posted by Hizzoner

say for example, you had to make a list of important cover tunes to know, etc.. for an audition.... what would be a proper primer/setlist?

Grateful Dead's "Eyes Of The World"

[3toes]

As much as I dislike Panic... we play a lot of it and people do get into it. Really easy stuff, not many changes. Good to space out on and segue into something else.

Learn some Meters songs as well and some Parliament. If it ain't got the funk its straight up junk.

[Corporate Boy]

The point of thread is to come up with a list of primer songs for the Jam Band genre.

i would add

Eyes Of The World - Grateful Dead (Emaj) - The jam band scene is full of dorian influenced jams. Learn this tune to help break the mold. Then find a version from '74 and see how they morph into a chord progression that takes them all over the place and ends in a pretty cool unison riff. That is Jamband 101.

Stash - Phish (D?) - This tune is based off a Mingus chord progression and is an excellent example of tension and relese in improvised music. Check out this Google book... it is pain to read, but it gives a glimpse of how they used tri-tone subs and bII diminished scales to add tension to the jam.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Ww5...59,M1-PA259,M1

So What - Miles Davis - This is pretty much the album that showed people what can be done over a simple chord pogression. You have to understand it to take your jams to the next level.

To really understand jam band music, you have have to understand the roots of where it comes from. If you like world music element, listen to Fela and Marley. If you like the country element, listen to Cash and Haggard. If you like the rock element, listen to the blues and Motown. But all of jam band music has a taste of jazz. Jerry and Trey, who are arguable the biggest contributers to the genre have a vast knowledge of musical styles. You will find a little bit of everything in it. They really understand each style.

[Spinal Tapper]

Shakedown Street by Grateful Dead

Birds of a Feather by Phish (should be able to jam that out for a long time )

Also, get a bunch of percussion together and have a song that breaks into an instrumental drum jam!

[thombo]

choosing standards is difficult b/c the "jamband" scene has so many factions, w/ sub-scenes and overlap w/ other genres, and the age of players is so varied.
while the songs are good, being a good "jam" bassist is really about being able to adapt to situations, react to the music in the moment, and communicating w/ other musicians. for what it's worth, as i've gotten older, i've realized that it is just as important to know when to hang back. that said, here are a few songs that i've gotten a lot of milage and gigs out of:

-Cissy Strut by The Meters- in almost every jam session i've been to, someone calls this one (i like other Meters tunes more, but this is one that everyone knows).
-Funky Bitch by Son Seals- this is a simple blues that Phish covers and guitarist love to wank over. again, not a favorite, but it's good to know for auditions/jams.
-One Way Out by The Allman Bros.
-Sex Machine & I Feel Good by James Brown
-Breath/Time/Breath by Pink Floyd
-Windjammer and Jan Jan by Grant Green
-Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads
-Lovelight, Scarlet Begonias and Shakedown Street (among other Dead tunes)
-A few Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix tunes are always good

i've gotten a lot of milage out of jamming non-standards too (Outcast's Hey Ya, Flaming Lips tunes, Dylan tunes, etc) or changing the style a song is played in (D'n'B Windjammer, Reggae One Way Out, etc).
as previously suggested, it's good to be able to jam on one chord vamps, two chord vamps (ii-V's, IV- V), and blues.

if your into bluegrass, there's a whole other can of worms...

[IdealWay]

Every good jamband does a Talking Heads cover! So it wouldn't hurt to familiarize yourself with their music too...

Also check out the following less-known "jambands" for some good ideas:

The Motet
Blueground Undergrass
Addison Groove Project
Dubconscious
Acoustic Syndicate
The Mantras
Tea Leaf Green
Umphrey's Mcgee

+1 that truly understanding real "jamband" music requires a firmly rooted knowledge of the many musical styles from that preceded it.