Hey guys!

I've poked in on this forum from time to time for a while now, and been astonished at the collective wealth of information I've been able to find. On this particular visit, I'm hoping to mine the collective knowledge about some tunes that are notorious jam busters at Cajun jams. I'm thinking of tunes along the lines of Bosco Stomp, perhaps? What are other ones that never fail to cause problems in a big group? I'm writing an analytic essay about Cajun music and know I've come across these tunes for ages, but I'm struggling to come up with them off the top of my head. I'd love to create some working lists that were readily available in addition to the essays I'm writing.

Ideally, these would be jam busters because something about them is structurally tricky (weird key? crooked chord changes? strange structure?) and not just because they're not as well known.

Thanks for any help!

Jam busting usually occurs when the only guy with an accordion just really doesn't know his s***. Then you're pretty much out of the Cajun music scene for that jam. Just be sure you're not that guy.
Actually, the only problem encountered with Bosco Stomp is for the rhythm guitar to know when to get off the 1 and go to the 5, then back to the 1. It really critical for the singer to hear this change. Same thing goes for JCD, even though it's an instumental. The guitar must change from the 1 to the 5 along with the fiddle and the accordion. The Guitar just can't ride the 1 and expect the tune to have an impact.
Another song that is difficult for rhythm and bass players is La Valse de Bayou Teche. It actually goes from the 1 to the 7, then back to the 1, then to the 7 again, then to the 5. Pretty song, but not always chorded correctly.
My 2 cents
JB

Hey, JB!

As a sidenote, I want to point out that the Bayou Teche waltz doesn't really have a 7 flat in it. If you listen to the original, it's just 1, 4 5. Somewhere along the line, someone decided to emphasize that part of the melody by putting another chord under it, but without the emphasis, the 1, or root, works just fine.

Coincidentally, that has happen with a number of songs. Grand Mamou is traditionally a 1, 5 song, but somebody added the 4. Same thing with Calcasieu waltz.

Interesting, Ganey.
We have actually played Bayou Teche both ways.
Works OK either way.
Just have to be sure everyone is on the same page.

As a side note, played (guitar) and sang at the Begnaud House jam on the Friday night of the Festivals Acadien. Had a great time trying to imitate Mr. Freddy's guitar struming methods. Also enjoyed watching the little Thibodeaux boys, age 7 and 9, play the fiddle, plus got to strum while Mr. Don Montecet played accordion.

The interesting thing that the accordion players do there in Scott is modulate and change the key of the song, sometimes on the turn and sometime for the second time through the melody. This really confused this poor Texan, who was not expecting it. Got left behind, but so did some of the locals.

JB

JB,

I think I remember you, I'm the boys dad. Didn't we run into you at the Festival the next day?

I remember you sang a good bit that night and did a mighty fine job!

What's the focus of your article?

Well, I'm really writing a big giant dissertation on Cajun music and contemporary practice. I'm an ethnomusicologist and I've been living in Lafayette for more than a year now doing fieldwork. I guess the quick summary is that I'm looking at the way contemporary Cajun music is posed at a particularly interesting intersection of the folk music world and a more commercial, vernacular music world. You still have a vibrant oral tradition, a real sense of ethnic community and belonging, things like regular jam sessions--but you also have bands recording albums, and trying to get gigs, and singer-songwriters within the tradition. So I'm mostly concentrating on the wave of groups that have come up in the past 6 or 7 years, who have grown up almost entirely post-Cajun music "revival" and how they're shaping and changing the music scene.
I'm not exactly sure how this bit on jam busters will fit in, but in my head, its part of a section on these semi-formal, regular, open-to-the-public jam sessions, how they work, who plays in them, and how they function. I play in several pretty regularly, and I know songs get rejected as jam busters semi-regularly, and one night, it was a small group playing well together, and we decided to tackle several in a row! Of course, I promptly forgot which tunes we'd performed, beyond Bosco Stomp. Bayou Teche, I think, was on the list?

Sounds interesting. I've been doing a bit of work along the same lines and just had an article on jam sessions (focusing on Savoy's jam) come out earlier this year.

If you're interested in comparing notes or would like a copy, drop me a line.

Jude

"My True Love" comes to mind. Everybody plays the B part slightly different. "French Blues," "Pinegrove Blues," "Bosco Blues," "Lake Arthur Stomp," "OST Special," "Zydeco Sont Pas Sale," "One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer" are all tricky tunes with variations.

Two step d'Elton can be a jam buster too.

Is "busting a jam" good or bad? I prefer to DESTROY the audience with artistry and technical skill. I also like it when that magical moment happens when el duende appears.

Jude,

Can you tell us where your feature is published? I'd like to read it ;-)

--Big Nick

Nick, It was published in Culture and Tradition, a Canadian folklore journal. Drop me an email and I'll send you a PDF of it. Otherwise, you'd be waiting for about a month.

Jude

Jessamyn,

My 2 cents :-)

I think the most common 'feature' that busts a jam is songs that drop or
add a beat to a measure. Also, it's impossible to hear where some chord
changes are by following he accordion left hand :-)

I've always thought that it's hard to jam on folk music. One either knows
the arrangement or not, unless it's very simple ..

Also, an interesting problem is presented to the contemporary Cajun music author.
If one tries to sound too 'traditional' they may be accused of being derivative.
If one writes too far out of the idiom, it's no longer 'Cajun'.

--bn

Hey Braves, regarding jam busting tunes, I don't think that any one tune is causing the problems mentioned in this thread. I think that you are encountering a typical trait of traditional folk music in that one tune can be played several ways depending on what region the musician is from. I have seen one tune with several different titles or one title that applies to more than one tune. I have experienced this when I used to play traditional French music on Hurdy Gurdy. Same thing when I played in a Polka band back in the 70s and we would jam with other bands. I know of two steps with two different titles that apply to both of them. It can get confusing but that is what a jam is for. To share ideas and variations of playing a tune. I frequently see this crop up in the Irish sessions I play at. I have a jig that has two different B parts. I also have a reel with a title that applies to a couple other reels and all are different. This is common in all genres of folk music. What really helps at a session is to announce what you want to play. Let the others know if there is a different A or B part and how many times you will play the tune before going on to another. We do this at the Irish sessions here in the Boston area and it works quite well. The nice thing is, if a musician doesn't know the tune or a part of the tune then they don't play, thus the set is not ruined. Of course there will always be someone in denial who will play poorly. This is bound to happen no matter what genre you are playing. Overall, I enjoy a good session. You meet great people, excellent musicians and can learn a lot if you are willing to listen.