The Great British Blues at
A British Blues Institution
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The Jam
Twelve bars.
One room.
Everybody plays.
The Great British Blues Jam is an open stage for the music that built British rock: shuffles, slow burners, Chicago stomps and Delta grit, played live by whoever's brave enough to walk up.
There's a house band to hold the groove and a bandleader to call the changes. Session players and road dogs share the stage with people who've only ever played in their bedroom. If you can count to twelve and listen while you do it, you're in.
It runs on Saturday afternoons at TAM Elephant & Castle, the Temple of Art and Music inside Mercato Metropolitano. It's a room built for players, with proper backline, proper sound and an audience that came to hear the music.
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I
Bring your axe
Guitar, bass, harp, keys, horns, voice. Plug into the backline and play with the house band.
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IV
Find your people
Bands have started at this jam. Swap numbers, trade licks, find the drummer you've been looking for.
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V
Or just listen
No instrument needed. Pull up a chair and hear live blues played the way it should be.
How the night runs
From the first shuffle
to the last turnaround
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Doors & sign-up
Get there early and put your name and instrument on the sheet. Tune up away from the stage.
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House band opens
The house band sets the bar with a set of its own and gets the room moving.
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Jammers called up
The bandleader builds line-ups from the sheet. Two or three tunes each, then the next crew steps up.
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The big finish
Everyone left standing gets up for the last tune. It's usually loud.
Jam etiquette
House rules
The jam's unwritten rules, written down. Follow these and every bandleader in the country will want you back.
- Tune before you walk up. Clip-on tuner, off stage. Nobody wants to hear you find E.
- Call the key, call the feel. "Shuffle in A" or "slow blues in G" is all the band needs.
- Watch the bandleader. Eyes up for the nod: your solo, the turnaround, the ending.
- Two choruses, then pass it on. Leave them wanting more. The next player is waiting.
- Comp quietly. When it's not your solo, play less and play softer. Space is part of the music.
- Mind the volume. If you can't hear the singer, you're too loud.
- Respect the backline. Treat the house gear like it's borrowed, because it is.
- Clap for everyone. First-timer or legend, it took guts to get up there.
The Great British Blues Wall
Leave a note
for the jam
Shout-outs, setlists, who blew you away. Notes go up on the big screen at TAM between sets, while the stage changes over.
At the jam?Scan with your phone to post straight to the big screen.
Sit in
Put your name
on the sheet
Put your name down for any Saturday on the jam sheet at tam.tv. You'll see each week's host and house band and who else is coming to jam. Then grab a ticket and bring your axe.
Next jam
Saturdays at TAM
TAM Elephant & Castle · Mercato Metropolitano
42 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6DR
Nearest Tube: Elephant & Castle (Northern and Bakerloo lines). Open in Maps