Paul Henry's Acoustic Jam 80

A very good JAM tonight.  The artists got into it.  The lighting changed as well, which made it a bit difficult.  For whatever reason, someone did not want the florescent overhead light on, so they turned if off before the festivities began.  This lower lighting required me to edit some of my photos for the first time.  If you ask me, the trick is to work smarter, not harder.

I arrived a little early, and was surprised there were several cars already in the lot.  Though the evening took a while to roll, some artists were early to tune and practice.  Below is Tony Cortina who was also with Don Taylor (next photo) doing a mini JAM among themselves, figuring out what they might do for us this evening.

Adrian Remirez and Dan Serapin of Red Light Runner opened us this evening.  I caught some different looks of Adrian in the lens this evening that I had not seen before.  I have included some of them in this blog.

John Stephens is an interesting photographer.  He's probably one of the few that actually likes his photo being taken.  More photo's of John are in this blog entry . . .

Don Taylor

Then Don asked Mark Biegel to join with his trumpet, and Rich Wotkun on guitar . . .

Matt Heckler

Wes - Starring "My Shoe"

John Sarantos

John is very good playing the Native American flute.  I have heard a few Native American flute players and have some of their CD's, however John has a very pleasant uniqueness about him, and his artistry, that makes his music very enjoyable.  John will be offering Native American flute lessons at Paul Henry's on May 5th and 6th.  David has given me permission to post the flyer at the bottom of this blog entry.

Tony Cortina

Tony started his set by bringing up Mark Biegel on trumpet and "Doc" Haney on sax.  This is what got the evening cranked up a notch. 

Then, THEN, Tony and the artists cranked it up a couple notches . . . best JAM I have heard yet at Paul Henry's.

Lead vocal given to us by Christine Murphy . . .

Red Light Runner + 1

This time the +1 was our artist Lauren Dunning.  This was a very cool addition because the two of them played off each other.  Thank you Lauren!

Okay, this one looks a little Donny and Marie if you ask me . . .

Thomas Matecki, John Sarantos, and Rich Alvarez

I have to say, I always like it when "Bongo" Rich takes a cut.  His style of movement, rythm, relaxation, all come together in a beat, that perhaps only a beatnik like me might enjoy . . . well not so.  Others enjoy Rich as much as I do.

After one set with John on Native American flute, John swapped out for Rich Hall to play piano, and Thomas on sax.

After the set, it was birthday time.  Now, David put our newbie up front to talk about herself, to stall, while David lit the candles.  That you Leslie Lambert!!!!!

Then came the birthday girls turn . . . Brittany Tomera . . .

Then Leslie sang in A Cappella for us . . .

Lou Shields

The audience again were wonderful . . .

John Sarantos

John broke out his NASA flute . . . and wildly enough it's sound was as good as the other flutes . . .

John owns approximately 75 flutes, and "Puff Puff" the Magic Dragon (had to be there to hear the story telling before playing this flute) was brought out to entertain us . . .

More John Stephens at work . . .

Mike Callahan

Exceptional job by Mike this evening . . . with Lou, Mark, Rich, and the rest of us glued to the tune . . .

John's camera needed a rest, while John just listened to Mike's play . . .

An amazing set with Rich Hall and Mark Biegel . . .

Rich is good.  You can see him turn ever so slightly to listen to the other artists when he plays, understanding their rhythm, syncing to the fluidity of the moment.  Rich and Mark . . .

As I mentioned earlier in this blog entry, John Sarantos will teach us how to play the Native American flute on May 5th and 6th.  Click here for a PDF download of the flyer.

You can see more of the Paul Henry's Art Gallery Thursday night JAM by following my archive at the upper right of this blog.

Click on this line for my copyright.