RJ Mischo's Final World Famous Tuesday Night Blues Jam Report

Last night was the final installment of RJ Mischo's World Famous Tuesday Night Blues Jam at the Mojo Lounge. It was announced that next week will begin the Steve Freund era. The good times should continue to roll.

I arrived early and the place was already packed with people to wish RJ a fond farewell as he embarks on the next chapter of his life in the sunny South. It was really surreal seeing people that I hadn't seen in quite a while. It's amazing how many people showed up. I wrote a list of the people that I recognized and I know I didn't catch everyone, because people were coming and going all night long.

Here is who I saw and remembered when I started writing down names:

Steve Ahola, Amy Lou, Kid Andersen and his lovely wife, Barrelhouse Solly, Russell Barber, Randy Bermudes, Birdlegg, Dennis Briggs, Marcus Carino, Johnny Cat, Christine Christian and her wonderful spouse Steve, June Core, Derek Craig, Arthur Daugherty, Norm Decarlo, Jimmy Dewrance, Dick (aka Earl Smith, the harp player), Dennis Dove, Scott Duncan, East Bay Wes, Eric (the keyboard player), E-Rock, Ray Figueroa, Steve Gannon, John Graham, Double G (Greg Greenspan), Walter Hern, Lou Holscher, Mark Hummel, Mark Irwin, Ruben Johnson, Carolyn McNabb, AC Miles, Chris Millar, Scott Miller, Sid Morris, Robin Overton, Mike Phillips, Kedar Roy, Screamin' Ian, Bart Shea, Tom (from the Buzzy Dupree Band), Kevin Walker, Su Wong and Don Yonders.

I know I missed people and there were a bunch of people that I had never met before or didn't recognize. With the number of performers in the room, it was guaranteed that the music would be good. It was obvious early on that there would be no way on Earth that even RJ with his masterful organization skills would get everyone up to play, but he came pretty damn close.

The list of people to jam was over two pages long. The look on the faces of the newcomers was pretty priceless.

The tone of the evening was sort of melancholy. It was pretty exciting to see everyone. People travelled in from Sacramento and Fresno to be there, but the reason we were all brought together was sort of sad. Tears started to flow as the evening drew to a close.

If you missed seeing RJ on last night, he will be performing with Steve Freund on Friday night at the Mojo Lounge. It will be his last Bay Area performance until the end of April, so don't miss it.

Photos will follow...

This Week's Report

It was a very nice week. Tuesday night, I hit the World Famous Tuesday Night Blues Jam[TM"> at the Mojo Lounge hosted by RJ Mischo featuriing Steve Freund, Marc Carino and June Core. The first set by these guys was phenomenal featuring nothing but old school Blues.

To paraphrase a good friend of mine, I like Blues the old fashioned way and they do it the old fashioned way.

The past few weeks have featured a number of great guests that have been checking in to bid a fond farewell to RJ before he departs the Bay Area. This Tuesday should also be a good time. Come on down and celebrate RJ's final Tuesday night hoedown at the Mojo Lounge.

Friday night, I headed down to the Poor House Bistro to catch the sweet guitar stylings of the fabulous Steve Freund and his excellent trio consisting of Steve, Robi Bean and Randy Bermudes.

About a half of the people in the audience were musicians or hard core blues fanatic types. Steve and the boys sounded fantastic and Steve brought a number of great guests up to perform including: Suzy Tyler, Paul Durkett and Jimmy Dewrance. There were a number of guitar players lurking in the shadows as Steve put on a free guitar clinic. It was a really fun evening and the fine staff at the Poor House Bistro make a person feel at home.