Blues Traveler
"Jam Demo" tape

Master:
Unknown-gen cassette provided by Rick Duro

Conversion:
Onkyo TA-6711>Tascam DA-20>Egosys U2A>Sound Studio 2.1.1b3>xACT 1.55
by Dave Mallick [greenone@bluestraveler.net]

01. Blues Jam      [12:25.20]
02. Jazz Jam>      [14:33.54]
03. Sugar Mama Jam [04:58.10]
-----------------------------
04. Wasabi Jam     [21:14.54]
05. Audition Jam   [10:35.52]
06. Banter         [01:54.29]
07. Scat Jam       [12:46.28]
-----------------------------
Total:             [78:28.22]

Notes:

This entire tape circulates as "Blues Band Jam Demo, 10-12-86,
Princeton, NJ", but this date is very much in doubt. Side A is basically
three tracks of a free-form blues/jazz jam featuring John Popper on
harmonica (and, briefly, vocals) plus an unknown drummer and guitarist,
while side B features three (possibly four) tracks of a young Blues
Traveler, accompanied by an unknown percussionist, a saxophone player,
and a scat singer.

SIDE ONE:

Track 1: The guitarist starts in, John joins soon after, and the drummer
lays down a simple beat in the background. They jam around the same basic
theme for a little over twelve minutes, followed by an unidentified adult
voice - perhaps their jazz band teacher? - suggesting they try some jazz
chords.

Track 2: The guitarist and drummer jazz it up a little bit, and this jam
goes on for another fourteen-plus minutes, before John starts singing.

Track 3: The jam continues, but after about 30 seconds, John stops playing
and starts singing some bluesy vocals in the background, eventually singing
a verse of two of Mungo Jerry's "Sugar Mama" before the tape runs out.

SIDE TWO:

Track 1: This track almost sounds like a Wasabi-esque jam; it definitely
features John Popper on harmonica & vocals (faintly in the background at
around 15 minutes in) but all other musicians are unknown as there is no
talking until the end, when an unidentified voice asks "Do you want to
pause?" several times before the tape stops. Other musicians include a
drummer, guitarist, bassist, percussionist and saxophone player. If the
four main musicians on this track are indeed Blues Traveler, the
saxophone player is likely Arnie Lawrence, who served as the band's
mentor at the New School's Jazz program, and jammed with them on many
occasions early in their career.

Track 2: At the beginning of the next track, John can be heard saying
"Chan, don't explain it to him", almost like the recording is part of an
audition. It is unclear if this cut and the two that follow are from the
same session as the previous track. Due to a jam around 7 minutes in
sounding like "Sweet Talking Hippie", this track likely features all
four members of Blues Traveler, in addition to an unidentified
percussionist. There does not appear to be any saxophone on this track.

Track 3: A banter track; the first thing that can be heard is a laugh
sounding very much like Bobby Sheehan, and after a brief bass jam, the
group begins talking about "Chan's amp". Someone calls Brendan's name at
about 35 seconds, and about a minute in, Brendan's voice can be heard
with a light British accent asking if he can move it. This marks it as
unquestionably a Blues Traveler recording. There are several other
unidentified voices as well, including one laugh at around 1:20 that
sounds a bit like Chris Barron's, but no other names come up in the
discussion to confirm anything.

Track 4: The saxophone player comes in early on this track after not
making an appearance on tracks 2 & 3, and the percussionist is very
up-front as well after being harder to hear on track 2. At 1:55, John
says "Go ahead Chan, do it for a while". At around 2:45 begins a jam
reminiscent of the middle section of "Mother Funker" or "Glory, Glory".
Some yodeling vocals around 5:30 and scat-style vocals around 8:00 -
possibly Chris Barron?

bt1986-10-12t01.flac:29559e35356108c51c45474eb0731cc4
bt1986-10-12t02.flac:444f9acf34b64393e575c8ed96f16a48
bt1986-10-12t03.flac:889dc93deeb65a3b32ceca21665040ce
bt1986-10-12t04.flac:fb6489cf2af24c4c5fb1bb3b14ed182a
bt1986-10-12t05.flac:cb98a931155354c3132e934d95fb030e
bt1986-10-12t06.flac:4501279a8988e2b9dc0b439273d42bf4
bt1986-10-12t07.flac:af66612c005f7a080b3559aefd40551c