IT'S OVER: THE AMAZING JAM AT THE MARMORA INN

Dear all,


It’s over. The fat lady has sung for the Amazing Jam at the Marmora Inn.

After several months of very low turnout, I conferred this afternoon with our generous hosts – Rui and Kathy Ferreira – about the future prospects for the Amazing Jam at their location in the Marmora Inn.

Attendance has been low since June. Last month Rui had asked that we cancel our September musical gathering due to a conflict with his own work schedule. This month the date for the Amazing Jam fell on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. I had spoken with several of our core group of musicians who all declared their inability to attend this weekend due to conflicting family obligations....

Although I have heard from a number of people how this event has been really important for them, the numbers just don’t add up. The effort required to host and run our Amazing Jam once a month compared to the numbers of people coming out to play no longer seem to make it worthwhile.

So, it is with regret (and some sense of relief) that Rui, Kathy and I have agreed it is time to close it down.

Many thanks to them for the kindness and generosity of their hospitality over so many months. Many thanks to each and all of you who have participated: bringing your instruments and voices, your songs, your stories and your smiles to share together.

There are other venues to play, other places to gather. I recommend an absolutely fabulous open mic in Brighton (every Wednesday evening from 6:30 pm at the Timber House Lodge – contact: Frank Blanchet – blanchetfg@hotmail.com). Twice a month (the second and fourth Mondays, from 6 pm until....) there is an excellent song circle at the Beaufort Inn in Belleville (contact: Paul King – paulking0@sympatico.ca). There is an excellent open mic in Marmora –“First Friday’s” (at the Marmora Curling Club, 7 pm on the first Friday of every month, contact: Eileen Quinn – litgid@aol.com). There are house concerts, kitchen parties and all kinds of opportunities to play music with and for other people.

The Amazing Jam has had a phenomenal run. In August 2010 we were welcomed by Tony Long at the original premises of Amazing Coffee in Madoc. In January of 2011 we gladly moved the jam into his ‘new and improved’ location across the road. We ran the jam there every Sunday for almost 2 years. When Tony sold up the Amazing Coffee, Rui and Kathy Pereira kindly offered us the Marmora Inn as a new location and we re-invented the jam with a new, once a month, schedule. Now, alas, it is time to let it go.

My thanks and appreciation to everyone who has ever played with us, brought us a song or a story to share and enjoyed the music we have made together. The friendships continue and the musical connections remain. I include the email for the Marmora Inn (marmorainn@gmail.com) and invite all of you who have enjoyed the hospitality there to drop a line to Rui and Kathy and thank them know your appreciation. Remember too that the dining room and service at the Marmora Inn is superb and that Rui’s kitchen produces possibly the best food in Hastings County, and as the sign on the wall says, “Life is too short to drink bad wine!” If you haven’t eaten there yet, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

“I t’s all unplugged and it’s all good! Guitar, baritone, bass, harmonica, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, fiddle, accordion, flute, celtic harp – the list goes on.

“A place for ‘first-timers’ and experienced players alike. A good bunch of people playing all kinds of music together. People in their teens all the way through proto-geezers. Maybe even an incipient-geriat or two.... Any acoustic music from punk to polka!”

It’s been good. It’s been something very special. Stay in touch and keep on playing and singing.

James Reid