I got to the latest Smiths jam and it was a string of varied players of various levels but as always a love of the art. Many were local I'd seen at this session, but there were also new people with various instruments, not least singers. This incarnation was led with inspiring bass playing and inviting stage management by Ben O'Loghlin. Several names I've mentioned before at these jams, not least Mic, Oliver, Mark, Simon H, Jeremy. I was interested in Simon Milman on guitar and how he didn't just run chords but moved over harmonic structures. Oliver was something like that too, and Mic lithe and flowing over the tune while Simon Halabi was more evident, rhythmic and historically engaged. As for Ben, you could see his mind working to recover and interpret each tune, unfazed and great memory. All interesting. But I'll highlight Flynn Marcus. I've seen him at events and heard him sometime back, but this was the most recent outing that I've taken in and I was floored. Lovely, lovely tone, expressive plays on melody and the song with occasional explosive runs, perhaps scalar, perhaps dissonant, perhaps pentatonics, and a presence that supported players and easily took on a leadership role. I guess he has easy access to training and his gear is good and obviously well setup, but a very fine player already. As for me, I couldn't handle the heavy house bass, but had a go on fretless e-bass later and struck some very tricky post-bop I'd heard but never played, so an exercise not done too well but enjoyed none-the-less. Thanks to all.
