The music industry’s goals are clear: sell the most popular artists, fill the biggest stadiums, and make as much money as possible. For the fans, these events are becoming less appealing by the second.
Enter the jam session: a means of getting people together to witness a display of artistry that is built on some very different ideals. Could they over-take big concerts as the primary hotspot for music lovers to seek entertainment?
In a lot of senses, music lovers located in London are a lucky bunch: the calendar of potential nights out is flooded, and the chances are you are never too far from a show that suits your taste.
As we write this piece, the selection to take a pick from includes Cyndi Lauper, G-Eazy and the holographic masterpiece that is ABBA Voyage – the main catch being that each will put you a minimum of £50-£100 out of pocket per ticket.
The factors that have contributed to the rising inaccessibility of live music are symptomatic of a capitalistic society: mainstream live music events are built on foundations of greed and, as of the 2022 Ticketmaster scandal – which saw a staggering number of Taylor Swift fans lose tickets to scalpers and site crashes – this fact has not gone unnoticed by the public.
According to a 2022 survey conducted by YouGov, “six in ten Britons (60%) have ever been to a live music concert (including 14% who go regularly), but many say they are being priced out of the live music scene” and “half (51%) say the price of a ticket has stopped them from attending a gig at least once in the last five years – and 18% say it’s happened frequently.”
Whilst Live Nation and fellow wide-scale events promoters come under close scrutiny for their shortcomings, an alternative is unsurprisingly desired.
If the cost factor is keeping you from accessing authentic live music and you deem exclusivity deeply unattractive then there is still hope: jam sessions are set to be your new best (and most accessible) friend.
If you stumble across Grow in Hackney Wick, as my friends and I have on an unsuspecting Sunday night, what you may find inside is more than your average pub experience.
Expecting a straightforward route to the bar, and then our usually non-competitive selection of outdoor seating, we were shocked to be faced with a new obstacle: a crowd of music lovers and just-happy-to-be-here evening drinkers alike swaying enthusiastically to the five-piece band on a stage which previously I had not even noticed was there.
The floor is packed shoulder-to-shoulder from the front to the bar, but the attendees are unphased by the requirement to complete ninja-like manoeuvres to secure their next drink and hover contentedly over fully seated tables.
The event which we had unknowingly invited ourselves to was one of Grow’s jam sessions which, thankfully for us, is an evening opening to everyone at the small cost of a pint with friends, described by the venue as “a bunch of musicians and production nerds” exploring “the sweet spot where synths, sequencers, MPCs, E-drums and any midi instrument meet guitars, basses, keys, acoustic drums, voices and bodies.”
The jam sessions organised by the team at Grow are one of a multitude of this kind and can give us hope that an alternative format of live event could be key to shaping live music from an elitist con to a celebration of community, talent and shared art.
These are all things that Joseph Marlow, a London-based musician who has participated in launching a host of musical events around London, strives to encourage: “we hope to build our community, providing as many opportunities to both established and upcoming musicians as we can,” he says.
One of Marlow’s most notable endeavours was his time at the Ritzy, inviting artists to the stage every week with the unlikely backdrop of what is usually Brixton’s Picturehouse.
What seemed to be a far-fetched dream quickly turned into bagging a regular Tuesday slot at the venue to provide a space for artists to convene and showcase their sound through improvisation: “When I was in uni, a friend of mine Marchie and I used to go to an event in Brixton called Queenstown when they announced they were closing their doors we enquired about taking over, sort of as a joke. They were really keen so we went for it. We did 130 events before we decided to move on.”
As Joseph tells us, the Ritzy events had to come to an end, but he continues to advocate for musicians through the organisation of a new and improved event.
“Since we closed our doors at the Ritzy, we have since moved to Shoreditch’s 91 Living Room,” he tells us of his new project in the works: “It seemed like a logical next step, bigger venue, more central London, we had our trial event which sold out and went great.” These events will continue every other Sunday from January 2025.
The last decade has seen the music scene shape-shift into an uncanny amalgamation of TikTok trends and viral snippets; it appears in the online sphere that music has lost the quality of artistry that it once seemed to possess, but in the realm of the real world, the focus remains on nurturing learned talent and true originality.
“The vast majority of our audience is musicians who are either trying to make a career in the industry or who just simply love the art form. Musicians are looking to hone their craft playing with top-level session players, jazz players etc,” says Marlow.
The term jam session can in fact refer to an umbrella of events, meaning that no matter what you are looking to get out of a live music experience, it is very likely you will find it within this niche.
Whilst some, like the event I witnessed at Grow in Hackney Wick, are audience-oriented, the focus of the events put on by Marlow is the experience of the artists, both on stage and off.
“The audience participation aspect is something people enjoy because it feels like you’re listening and witnessing the most raw form of live music. Unrehearsed, and improvisational, which to some people could be fantastic,” he tells us.
“If you go to a mainstream show you’ll see much more rehearsed precision and near perfection in terms of performance, with backing tracks and click tracks. If you come to us you’ll see those same musicians letting off steam and just going for it. Both are awesome experiences. ‘
Nonetheless, the success of these events, and the good that they do for the community, does not occur without the passion and dedication of those involved: “Putting together a set and a rehearsed show is such a difficult thing to do, so MDs, arrangers, artists, tour managers, productions etc deserve so much appreciation and respect. It’s a completely different side of the industry, both of which can be fantastic.”
As jam sessions grow in popularity and therefore also scale, organisers can look to aim high with their hopes for future events: ‘We’re very excited to see where this opportunity takes us, and we have long-term goals of being a central part of the UK jazz scene, and through this we hope to build our community, providing as many opportunities to both established and upcoming musicians as we can. We’re aiming towards a huge final event of the year in December at the Jazz Cafe,” Marlow tells us on behalf of his events team.
The rise of visibility that jam sessions have had as they attain ‘trendy’ status in the media has seen exciting development not only for Joseph Marlow but for many others who are prospering in the same field.
Popular artist Denzel Curry, who boasts eight million monthly listeners on Spotify, graced the Orii community – a weekly jam session which takes place in both Hackney Wick’s colour factory and Peckham’s Jumbi – with a surprise impromptu performance this January.
This appearance served as a reward for those in attendance for their commitment to the flourishing local music scene and is evidence that artists of any scale contribute to the accessibility of live music.
Performing alongside a big industry name is an opportunity that once seemed far-fetched to local musicians working to secure their reputation within the industry, and community-based events which, as the Orii community have stated on their Instagram page, are ‘open to everybody’ and now offer the chance to experience such a thing for free or incomparably affordable prices, and the “ability to connect through sonics”.
Together, these events – which are scattered increasingly generously throughout the country – are evidence that live music should not be (and definitely does not need to continue to be) considered a luxury.
A study conducted by behavioural science expert Patrick Fagan and O2 showed us that a person’s “well-being increased by 21% from just 20 minutes of gig-time, compared to just 10% for yoga and only 7% for dog-walking” and that attending live music could see your life expectancy “extend by nine years”.
When these statistics come so strongly into play, why should anybody be denied easy access to live music events?
Featured image courtesy of Intime Sessions via Instagram.