Brad Spurgeon's Blog

LYON – On the last night of our three-day oversea and overland trip back from Sicily to Paris we stopped over in Lyon, as we usually do. But this time, Ornella insisted that we find an open mic for me to play some music in, just for a change, and since I have been going too long without jamming in public. (Having played only once or twice during our two months in Sicily.) But when I stepped into La Grooverie at 9 rue du Jardin des Plantes in central Lyon, I immediately turned to Ornella and said: “This place is not for me!”

It’s not that I found this one of several weekly jam sessions in this terrific bar venue to look bad. I found it to look far too GOOD for me. We entered a full, bustling, bar to see the stage at the far end full of young musicians preparing to play. It was between songs, so while I knew that the theme was supposed to be funk, groove, etc., I did not even have to hear the music to know what I was up against: A stage full of brass – trumpets, saxes, and others – flutes, bass guitar, lead guitar, full drum set, keyboards, two vocal mics… in short, a whole orchestra of what could only be something special.

First at La Grooverie Jam in Lyon

“Come on, Brad, try!” said Ornella. “I’ll go and find out how it works.”

“I can see how it works,” I said. “There’s no room for me. There’s no way I can get up there just with my guitar and do a Bob Dylan!”

“Let’s just see,” she insisted.

“But I can only let them down. These are clearly seasoned musicians, and they will not be doing my kind of stuff. This is going to be great music!”

Second at La Grooverie Jam in Lyon

Ornella Lays the Pressure On

She insisted again, and anyway, it was raining outside and we had been driving from Genova most of the day and were exhausted and hungry and needed a beer. So we ordered a couple of pints of IPA, and waited for the music to start. Or rather, I stayed at the bar and moped, while Ornella went out to the terrace for a smoke.

While I listened to the first song, a guy approached me as he saw I had my guitar case. He introduced himself as Matt, and said he was the organizer of the jam. Did I want to play? I thought of Ornella, and said, “Sure. But how does it work.” I told him my limitations, but he said to go sign the list and they would call me up.

The music was exactly what I thought, and the jam was what I expected. What I did not consider, was just how great the attitude was of seemingly all the musicians – and public – who attended. When Ornella returned she told me that she had struck up a conversation with some musicians on the terrace and they told her how it worked and that I should try. She told me that I had to go see the organizer. I said I had signed up.

And Then Brad Got Up on Stage – and it was a Mad, Mad World

Then she gave told me the other thing that she had discovered, which is a key to this whole open jam – and the others under different themes that take place on two other nights per week: Most of the musicians who play in the jam are from local music schools in Lyon. They are young, enthusiastic, excellent musicians with a clear love of just getting up on stage and playing. Doesn’t matter who with.

Brad at La Grooverie Jam in Lyon

And so when it was my turn to get up on stage, I immediately felt comfortable with the other musicians who had been assigned to play with me. I assume that since Matt knew I was mostly guitar and vocals with a more rock than groove song, he assigned only a drummer, bass player and a keyboard player – to make it easier for me. He had told me that they only did cover songs, so I combed through all my possibilities, and dug deep and … came up with the one I do the most: “Mad World.”

In the end, a trumpet player and a saxophonist both timidly tried to fit into the piece, but I guess they couldn’t find the groove! I wish I had the time to have done another song, but I didn’t want to overstay my welcome. It was a great moment for me, anyway, and Ornella made a video of it – warts and all!

Third at La Grooverie Jam in Lyon

The ambience was so great that we stayed on until practically the end of the jam at 11pm before we ran off to eat a late dinner of Ramen soup in the main square not far from our hotel. And I gave a huge thanks to Ornella for pushing me on, when all the nerves in my body told me there was no place for me this in La Grooverie jam. How wrong I was!

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