I am a high school junior from Seattle, Washington. I am a guitarist and am getting reasonably good, to the point where I could at least bear my way through a few solos in front of a small crowd.
The problem is, quite simply, the type of music that I like is not popular here at all. I am quite interested in jazz, blues, and fusion. First of all, not only is instrumental music not popular among young people in my area, but being technically skilled at an instrument is actually looked down upon as being egotistical and a sign that you are not an emotional human being. “No!” the goth with the double-tall half-caf soy machiato tells you, “you’re missing the point! It’s about feeling!”. Apparently, music is not about being skilled at what you do, it is about having collapsed veins and tight clothing, which makes you an “emotional human being”.
My rant is over. My real question is, how does a young guy who likes jazz, blues, and fusion find other guys like me to jam with? People ask me to join bands, but I would not like to play “emo” or “grunge” or whatever it is these creeps call it. I would like to play real music with people interested in real music.
So, I repeat, if my knocking on the Seattle music scene has become too obstructive towards the message:
How do I find other jazz/blues/fusion players in Seattle that an HS junior can jam with?
Seriously, congratulations on having taste and having the motivation and talent to participate. Try growing up in Podunk Town, Midwest with the same aspirations.
What the other guys said. As a long-time guitarist, I just hung out at guitar shops and talked with other players until I found folks with similar tastes who I could network with, jam with and learn from. There were guys older than my dad who could play screaming stuff and had the patience to show me a riff or two.
From there, find out where cool players are playing in town - not all of the places are adults only bars and such. Go there and hang out.
Basically, invest the time, network, don’t be shy and expect about 1 of every 25 attempts to bear fruit - such is the life of someone who is passionate about exploring their art…
My brother had the same problem. He lives in Boulder and is a jazz vibist. We tried to encourage him to come back to Chicago where the JAZZ IS, but he likes the mountains. He pretty much became the leader of his band. He rounded up the musicians, chooses the music, does the arranging, etc. You kind of have to take the bull by the horns. Put an ad in the paper and let the people who dig what you dig come to you. They’re all scouring the ads just like you. Give them a worthwhile ad to answer!
I came in here to post kind of the same thing as Kalhoun. Come eastward young man. Chicago has a pretty vibrant Jazz and Blues scene happening at legandary venues most nights of the week. I’m not saying drop everything and move, but come on a visit and check it out. You’ll find that you’re not alone…
I was in sort of the same boat as you when I was in HS back in the 70’s, but as a drummer.
I was in the Jazz Ensemble at school, and that’s where I hooked up with a great bass player.
I had the good fortune of getting together with a like-minded guitar player early on, like when I was a freshman, so that wasn’t a problem.
We never did find a good keyboardist.
You’ll have much better luck finding players when you go to college. For that matter, maybe you can find someone at a college now. Check the classified ads (or post one) in the school papers. I got together with some players that way.
That’s not ‘your area,’ that’s been the trend since punk music came around (if not longer - I know blues fans two and three times your age who also think technical ability and emotion are mutually exclusive). But anyway, if you find enough other musicians, you’ll find some who think like you do. I’m sure it can get very frustrating, but hang around the guitar shops and clubs and I think you’ll be able to locate a few.
First of all you might learn some respect for other forms of music, even those you’re not into, and learn some respect for other musicians, even those who play music you’re not into. People discover and change genre interests all the time. You might be working with or playing for one of those “creeps” one of these days.
All well and good…wonderful. I wish you the best of luck. But do try to control your high horse. It doesn’t look good.
great observation Equipoise - I couldn’t agree more and wish I had said it in my post. Seek out what you love, but there’s no need to bash what you don’t like - you will more than likely find that there is something to learn there, too…
