• Tips For Jammers
• Tips for Reviewers
• For Jam Masters
• Helpful Links

To submit jam session reviews, email the webmaster.  
When sending reviews, please include:

- Location (web site preferred)

- Dates and Times

- Name of host

- Skill level (open, pro,
invitation-only)

- Genres permitted (blues, rock, jazz, anything-goes)

- Anything else relevant or useful for jammers, e.g. parking, door cover etc.


We also welcome updates on existing sessions, and any news about ones that are defunct or on hiatus.

Reviews may be edited for content and brevity before publishing. 

Your email will not be published in the review, but we will need your initials to identifiy reviewers to our readers.

Welcome to Jam The Bay 

Your jam session infocenter

Welcome to Jam The Bay - the consolidated and collected info for jam sessions and jammers throughout the SF Bay Area.

This site content has been up and down under different names for some years. Meanwhile the same information and pointers were available in other formats via email lists, listservs, private conversations, and a disparate network of plugged-in musicians that were somehow always dialed in to the local music scene. 

Now, Jam The Bay endeavors to pull all this information together into a single location, making it easier for newcomers, travelers, returners, late-bloomers, revivalists, and people just plain-ol' passin' through that are wanting the hook up and wanting to play great music with others in an extremely casual setting. Jam The Bay provides all this - and provides it without the overhead and hassles of joining an email list, or compromising your privacy, or signing up for yet another account on yet another dubious and possibly short-lived web service,  or time-consuming "research" that is often needed.  

What exactly is a "jam session" anyway?

The "jam sesh" for short has a long and glorious history in music. Blues musicians were at the forefront of this format, with jazz musicians following behind closely. Players in other genres have come to accept the format too, drawing their own lists of "standards" and material that pretty much lots of casual players know. Their instrumentation runs the gamut from guitars, bass, drums, chick singers, "blues harp", and the occasion horn player. Jazz-formatted sessions have become particularly useful for horn players. 

I'm not ready to play with a band yet. 

That's okay, because a session isn't really a band in the sense that you have to commit to regular rehearsals, put up with difficult personalities and iffy behavior from others. A session is a commitment, but for one night only! You show up, you sign up (for open sessions), and if you're reasonably well-prepared you play a few songs, take your bows, and that's it!

Play with complete strangers?  Why would I do this??

Different players will tell you different things, but all sessions provide a few key things:

• Providing essential networking for musicians, especially those new to the community
• Providing performance opportunities for intermediate/advanced players who can't commit full-time to a band right now
• Allowing established players to hear other players and consider them for subs, guest players and often, permanent positions in their band
• Providing a casual format to try out a new song, a new style of music, or a new instrument
• Building confidence in beginning players with their stage presence and delivery
• Providing traffic to session-hosting venues on off-nights during the week, when things are generally slow.

So... I'm ready!  How do I get started?

Follow the links above for your geographic areas of interest.

Givin' it back, and keepin' it real. Since 2000.

All text content Copyright © JamTheBay.com 2012