WWW arkcity.net

Photo by Mick Watts click image to enlarge

Keeping the music alive

By MICK WATTS
Traveler Staff Writer
mick@arkcity.net

Clyde Bazil unlocks the back room at the Cherokee Strip Museum, and flicks on the stark fluorescent light to begin another of the weekly jam sessions on Monday nights. The room is stark, but soon musicians begin showing up and when the music starts the warmth lights up the room.

Anyone is welcome as long as they play an acoustic instrument. There are varying levels of talent, but the point is more to enjoy each other's music.

They gather every Monday evening. Sometimes there are only two or three, Clyde said, and at other times there may be 15 or more pickers of various types of musicians.

The jam session is geared mostly toward bluegrass and traditional country music played on acoustic instruments. It functions like a traditional mountain music circle with players calling tunes they'd like to play, selections moving around the circle clockwise from player to player.

The action is geared mostly toward bluegrass and traditional country music but before the evening was over the play list went wide and one could hear (and play along with) material as divers as music by Jimi Hendrix, The Cure, John Hartford , Allison Krauss, and even some twelve bar blues.

Most of the selections however were along a more traditional vein with songs like Ralph Stanley's 'Troublesome Waters' and classic renderings of 'Red River Valley' and 'The Tennessee Waltz'. There were ten players who showed up Monday evening with guitar, fiddle, and mandolin well represented.

Clyde Bazil officiates at the gathering by unlocking the place. Clyde plays guitar and sings. He turned eighty-eight earlier this month. Clyde is the last 'original' member of 'The Ramblers', the core group of players who make it to the Monday night sessions. The Ramblers perform locally at nursing homes and public gatherings.

Clyde said that some weeks "only two or three people show up and sometimes they have as many as fifteen or sixteen people." He cited the 'snowbird effect' as having an influence on the turnout. Warm weather plays a part in the number of folks that show.

Rambler, Delbert Peters stressed that "anybody is welcome" at the Monday night session. The mood is amiable and very friendly. I can attest to that. I took my guitar and subjected the circle to some home grown tunes of my own composition. I was treated warmly and encouraged to share. More than once.

Not everyone who makes it to the Monday night gathering is a player. Some come to watch, listen, and sing along. The age range of the group runs from senior citizens to college students, with Ben Byers and Jennifer Whitford sharing some music that crossed into genres other than trad-country.

Some of the players use charts and sheet music and others play by ear. Everyone seemed to share a good natured tolerance and the traditional musician's propensity for gently ribbing one another. All digs were taken with a smile.

Some selections started out in one key and wound up in another. Folks seemed to adapt and keep right on rolling. They know their stuff. I know I will make it a point to go back and 'join the circle' again and I would certainly encourage anyone else who has a love for acoustic music, traditional country or otherwise, to 'ramble' out to the Cherokee Strip Museum on Monday night around seven .

Bring your guitar, mandolin, fiddle or dobro. Or just bring a desire to sit, listen, sing along and enjoy. You will be welcomed.

Above: Charlie White, left, and Clyde Bazil play during the weekly jam session at the museum Monday.