David - Piano 
Michael - Guitar 
Teddy - Vocal / Acoustic Guitar 
Stephen B. - Guitar 
Julie - Jam Coordinator / Vocal 
Thor - Jam Coordinator / Guitar / Bass

Songs we played:

Hold On Loosely - .38  Special
Back To Black - Amy Winehouse
For What Its Worth - Buffalo Springfield
Big Bad Handsome Man - Imelda May
Whole Lotta Love (in B) - Led Zeppelin
Bad - U2
Miami 2017 - Billy Joel
Stephen B. Original (in F Lydian)
Blues Jam - based on Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Can't Always Get What You Want/Feeling Alright (medley) - Rolling Stones/Joe Cocker
After the Gold Rush - Neil Young
Gimme Some Lovin' - Spencer Davis Group (Blues Brothers arrangement in E)

First-timers, Stephen B (guitar) and Teddy (vocals) each brought a positive attitude and a willingness to "jump right in". Hold On Loosely is a song that we had jammed once before, but since it wasn't on the list this week, noone was prepared. That didn't stop us! We looked up the chords, played along with the track and then jammed it!
Teddy let us know that she had to leave early, so we wanted to make sure to cover her material right away. The Amy Winehouse tune had a simple arrangement that we all could follow, and Teddy sang beautifully. Big Bad Handsome Man was a new one for most of us, but once we figured out the timing, it really came alive. Again, Teddy's raspy voice brought an authentic bluesy quality to the room. 

At one point, Stephen B. guided us through one of his originals which turned into a 20 minute jam! His chords and chord-fingerings were inventive and the piece had an emotional, meditative quality to it. 
 

Michael had suggested Bad by U2. Not having a digital delay set up was no hindrance to us. Between the three guitars and the piano in the room, we all played different chord voicings and Julie's vocal was heartfelt and moving. 

David's piano playing on Miami 2017 was spot on! Unfortunately, I wasn't as prepared as I would have liked to have been on that one. But we all persevered and eventually were able to play through the song in its entirety. 

We rounded out the session with some looser, improvisational versions of some great old classics.

Although this session wasn't the smoothest, in terms of finding the "flow" and settling into "the jam", I was impressed and inspired by everyone's participation, encouragement and dedication to 'making it happen".

-Thor