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Blues Traveler
10-12-86
"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?