“A Celebration of The Scene”: Looking Back 25 Years to the Debut of the Jammys
Photo: Mike McNamara
I’ll admit I was taken aback when, in the midst of a conversation with my longtime friend and cohort, Relix publisher Peter Shapiro, we realized that the Jammy Awards was about to turn 25. The event debuted at Irving Plaza on June 22, 2000, and continues to live on via YouTube clips, DVDs and quality anecdotes all around. (When I spoke with Grace Potter for this issue’s Track by Track, she brought it up and we riffed on some of her Jammys memories from The Theater at Madison Square Garden where the show took place during the final few years.)
The idea behind it all was to gather together with members of the community and shine a light on the artists who inspired us, at a time when they were mostly ignored or dismissed by the mainstream media. To achieve this goal, there were two components—the awards and the performances. I solicited Jammys nominations from a panel of knowledgeable folks and the winners were then selected via a fan vote. In addition, to demonstrate the vitality of the artists we were honoring, the evening offered rousing musical collaborations, featuring numerous participants who had just met that day.
I was the founder of Jambands.com, while Peter was the owner of Wetlands Preserve, so we drew on our collective skillsets and reference points. I donned a tux and served as emcee, alongside host Peter Prince, who did a lovely job setting the tone for those who would follow at subsequent Jammys—Jim Breuer, John Popper, Robert Randolph, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, and Potter and Warren Haynes.
My co-founder stopped by Irving for soundcheck, then dashed over to B.B. King Blues Club in Times Square to present our first-ever Jammys Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr. B.B. King himself. Peter also gifted him some of the Jammys jammies we had created for the evening and videotaped B.B.’s acceptance speech (on VHS). Then he raced back to Irving and we played the tape during one of the award sequences while the stage was being turned over for the next performer.
The Jammys program listed all the nominees in the various categories. It also included the following definition of a jamband (then stylized as jam band), which I wrote, and to my mind, still applies today: “Please cast aside any preconceptions that this phrase may evoke. The term, as it is commonly used today, references a rich palette of sounds and textures. These groups share a collective penchant for improvisation, a commitment to songwriting and a propensity to cross genre boundaries, drawing from a range of traditions, including blues, bluegrass, funk, jazz, rock, psychedelia and even techno. In addition, the jam bands of today are unified by the nimble ears of their receptive listeners.”
The images that follow— many of which were taken by the late jamband enthusiast Mike McNamara—certainly affirm the tag emblazoned on the back of the official T-shirt, as it was a full-on, glorious “celebration of the scene.”
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The Disco Biscuits’ Jon Gutwillig and Les Claypool talking through the game plan for their collaborative set. The Biscuits and Les had just met.
This is the official program, which looked a bit more glossy in subsequent years, as you see by comparison with the version from 2005.
Just prior to taking this photo with Jammys host Peter Prince, we were told that the show had sold out.
The Jammys Orchestra bookended the night, opening with “Watermelon Man” and here, closing things out with “It’s Your Thing.” I can see host Peter Prince, Merl Saunders and members of Deep Banana Blackout, The Slip, Soulive and Foxtrot Zulu.
Here is the back of the T-shirt, as well as two extant pairs of Jammys jammies, which my wife recently reminded me had been her idea.
Merl Saunders joined Strangefolk and Percy Hill’s John Leccese— who would later become a member of Reid Genauer’s solo band— for “Scarlet” > “Fire.” Here, Merl and Reid flank a beaming Peter Shapiro.
When voting closed a couple days before the event and I learned that the Grateful Dead received the Archival Release Jammy for So Many Roads, I wasn’t sure how/if they would respond. So I was thrilled to receive this letter. In addition, Mike Gordon faxed us a message on behalf of Phish, who won Live Set of the Year for their epic seven-plus hours at Big Cypress.
The Jammy Award itself went through three iterations, starting with a classic Paul Revere Bowl, followed by versions created by Fender and then Gibson. These three sit atop of a bookshelf in my office and, yes, I need to find some tarnish remover.
Eric Krasno savoring his shiny bowl after Soulive won the special Future Jam award, which was voted on by musicians.
Butch Trucks commandeered one of The Allman Brothers Band’s tour buses during this night off between Holmdel, N.J., and Mansfield, Mass., for a performance by Frogwings (Oteil Burbridge, Kofi Burbridge, Jimmy Herring, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Marc Quiñones and Butch).
John Scofield was one of our final additions to the bill, performing with the Jammys Orchestra as well as Soulive. He must have enjoyed himself because he’d return in 2002, assembling his own quartet with Skerik, Stanton Moore and Andy Hess.
I love this photo of Uncle Butch and his nephew Derek. I feel like it captures both of them quite well. Even though Derek can be stoic on stage, he is anything but that when you catch him elsewhere.
A classic Mike Mac image that captures the energy in the room.
Post show vibe: “Might as well do it again next year. Since we sold out Irving, maybe we should go for Roseland…”
