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Pat Wilder Band
John Orr photographs
The Pat Wilder Band opened the show for the Little Fox blues jam on Dec. 17, 2008. Opening band plays a set, then exits, leaving amps and drums behind for the jam bands. They come back later with guests.

Best entertainment deal in the SF Bay Area: The Little Fox blues jam

By John Orr
January 2009

On any given Wednesday evening, the best entertainment deal in the San Francisco Bay Area is almost certainly going to be the blues jam at the Little Fox in Redwood City.

For one thing, the music is going to be hot.

"Some people come in here and dance, they don't even know what blues music is," says jam master Vince Caminiti. "They just like what they are hearing."

Click on images to see larger versions.

The Little Fox
Jam night at the Little Fox! 12/17/09

Caminiti, Anagnostou
Vince Caminiti, left, and John Anagnostou.


Ready for the musicians.

Ralph Aloisio
Sound man Ralph Aloisio.

Pat Wilder
Pat Wilder rips it up.

tips
Caminiti picks the first jam band while Wilder performs. Her band gets the tips.

Kenny Blue Ray
Kenny Blue Ray watches the show.

jam band
First jam band included, from left, Mark Irwin, Greg Heumann and Stan Erhart.

Most of the musicians who jam at the Little Fox are great entertainers -- a recent Wednesday saw the Pat Wilder Band open the evening, followed by such stalwarts at guitar genius Laura Chavez, Tia Carroll and Stan Erhart, among many others.

On other nights, that thrust stage has been graced by Mark Hummel, Kenny Neal, Rick Estrin, Tommy Castro, Elvin Bishop and other musicians who just want to sit in on what guitar great Kenny "Blue" Ray calls "The best blues jam on the West Coast."

For another thing, the room itself is delightful for musicians and fans.

The thrust stage has tables to either side and a dance floor open in front, with stools behind that. There is a balcony seating area that wraps around the stage area with more seating and excellent views. Bars are tucked into the front corners downstairs and upstairs. The sound system -- usually run by Ralph Aloisio -- is excellent.

"It's a room for music, with bars -- not a bar that also has music,'' explains John Anagnostou, the real estate developer who owns the Little Fox, its next door neighbor the Big Fox, and other chunks of downtown Redwood City.

And for another thing, the jam is free.

No cover charge, nobody bugging anybody to buy drinks. Come in, enjoy the music. Buy a beer or a shot if you want ... and please be generous when the tips bucket comes around. That money goes to the opening band.

The opening band is always a good pro group. Used to regularly be Kenny Blue Ray's band, when the jam first started at the Broadway Lounge over at the corner of Winslow and Marshall, and for a while when it moved to the Little Fox on Broadway. Now Ray's band is one of many bands that do the opening chores, then leave their drum kits, guitar amps and keyboards on stage for the jammers that follow.

The opening band does a set, then Caminiti starts calling up musicians to jam, arranging the line-ups for the best possible shows.

"I can usually get five, maybe six line-ups on stage each night," says Caminiti, himself a long-time musician (his band is Bluestate) who has played in jams all across the nation. "Usually a rhythm section, two guitar players, and others, trying to fill up the stage."

The mix varies from week to week. "One week it was all drummers, no guitar players," Caminiti recalls. "One time I had to call a bass player, beg him to come in."

But it always seems to work out, according to the regular fans of the event, which usually fills the Little Fox, which seats 240 people.

Tim Hughes, sitting to one side of the stage during Wilder's recent performance, said he's been coming to the jam almost every Wednesday for five years, because of the "consistently good music -- and good acoustics in the room."

Evangeline Mix, another regular fan, says she comes to dance -- she spent most of a recent evening on her feet, smiling and dancing -- and because "You get to know the people."

Later in the evening the opening band takes the stage again, usually with some special guests -- such as Laura Chavez on a recent night.

This Wednesday the jam is moving next door to the Big Fox -- the beautiful room next door than began life as the New Sequoia movie theater in 1929 and has since been refurbished by Anagnostou for big-ticket shows.

The occasion is the fifth anniversary party for the jam, which is going to feature a number of very special guests, some of which will not be revealed until the night itself.

The known quantities are Kenny Blue Ray, Daniel Castro, Mike Schermer, and the Gelb Band (from Gelb Music, a Bay Area mainstay music store for pro musicians).

The special guest stars include people I personally have paid big money to see perform.

But on Wednesday, in keeping with jam tradition, it's a free show.

"You're crazy if you don't show up on the 21st," Caminiti told the jam crowd recently, and we agree.


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