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South Bay / Santa Clara Valley Old-Time Jams

Old-Time Jams

These are informal jam sessions of mostly American "Old-Time" music, often with some contra and "Celtic crossover" tunes thrown in. They're held in the southern San Francisco Pensinsula area (~ Palo Alto to San Jose, California). The jams are acoustic but otherwise open to anyone who'd like to join in.

Monday Night Jams

We typically have 15-20 (or even 29!) people for the Monday night old-time jams. The jams have moved from time to time; currently they are held in Palo Alto.

This jam (and several others, see below) are held at Fandango Pizza who have merged with the Pommard Delicatessen and Cafe in Palo Alto. The Fandango folks have been very supportive of our music. Please return the favor (and help them stay in business!) by buying something to eat and/or drink before or during the jams. Suggested amount: at least $5 per person.

Schedule: Now every Monday, 7:00-9:00pm (as of 3/09)
The Fandango staff has asked us to quit by around 9:00 so they can clean up and lock up by their 9:30 closing time. So we're making the "official" start time 7:00 pm to allow a full two hours of jamming. Come early and order a pizza!
In warm weather we sometimes continue outside -- but Bay Area evenings can get chilly quickly, so bring a jacket!

Location: Fandango Pizza's new location, 3163 Middlefield Rd (at Loma Verde), Palo Alto. This location is shared with the Pommard Delicatessen and Cafe.

These are the same jams that were formerly in Mountain View at Cuppa Joe and Fibbar McGee's, then in Sunnyvale at the Bean Scene, then at the Coffee Society in Cupertino and the Cafe la Dolce Vita in Palo Alto. The Irish sessions that used to alternate with the old-time jam are currently inactive. They have been supplanted by various other Irish and Celtic (or "mostly Celtic") jams -- see Other South Bay Area Jams below.

Note: the Thursday Night old-time jam that was held starting 4/08 at Mountain Mike's Pizza on Stevens Creek Blvd in Santa Clara has been cancelled (as of 12/08)

Sample Tune Lists

Here are names of some tunes I and others have heard at the jams. These lists are not definitive (and are sadly out of date), but just intended to give an idea of some of the tunes played. The old-time list is organized by keys as well as by title because we often stick to one key for a half-hour or so. (Some banjos and fiddles need to be retuned to change key.)

A CD with sheet music for a number of the traditional tunes commonly played has also been compiled. Ask at the jam about getting a copy.

Email Notification List

We send notices about changes to a Yahoo "Old-Time Jams" group (mailing list).

You can join or see recent messages here.

You can also subscribe by sending a message to: old-time-jam-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Traffic level is normally very low. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Need more information? Email Pete Showman: image: jaminfo2 at showman dot org
with subject: "Old-time Jam query"


Other South Bay Area Jams and Sessions

Links to other Bay Area sites with calendars or event lists


This page is maintained by Pete Showman, image: jaminfo2 at showman dot org.

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