USA, Washington, Seattle: Sessions

[dean]

What / where / when are the current sessions in greater Seattle?

[jsluder]

There are a few listed here.

[mkchen]

Unfortunately, many of the sessions mentioned on the Seattle Irish Session Index page are now defunct. Fado is still going strong every Sunday afternoon/evening. It's billed as an intermediate level session, but there are some excellent musicians who attend regularly. And see below for my new initiative, an outgrowth of the Fado session:

(following is pasted in from an e-mail I sent to the Fado e-mail list)

Hi All,

Hope you can come to the second biweekly tune sharing session at my house this Wednesday, June 27, 2007. Same deal as last time:

The focus will be on helping each other to learn some new tunes. That means playing tunes at a deliberate but not breakneck speed, playing them through more than three times each, and at least the first few times through a tune avoiding excessive ornamentation that obscures the basic shape of the tune. I will probably think of some more groundrules by the first meeting. This is not a "session" per se; it doesn't matter if one other person or ten show up, and it doesn't matter if only flutesor only boxes show up. This is your chance to popularize that favorite tune ofyours that no one else at the regular session seems to know!

I plan to start at around 7:30. I hope we can keep things going for at least a couple of hours. I'll plan on having some beer in a cooler and will accept donations to cover the expenses. If you want to bring some munchies or beverages to share that would be OK too. There are 2 pugs (not pubs) and a cat who also live here so if you're allergic you might want to take some allergy medicine before you arrive.

My address is 112 North 83rd St in Seattle. That's North as in North Pole, NOT Northwest as in Northwest Airlines. We're just off the #5 and #48 bus lines.

If coming by car, take exit 172 off I-5, proceed west until you get to the lightat Greenwood Ave. Turn left and go 2 blocks. Turn right onto N 83rd and go 3/4 of the way down the block. On the right (North side of the street) you should see an old 2 story green house with a big front porch, with fruit trees along the parking strip and a pile of wood chips, and probably 2 very excited pugs.That's my house. Should be adequate street parking within a block or so. You can call me at 783-6028 if you're lost. Any other questions please e-mail me at mkchen@comcast.net.

Hope to see at least a few of you there! If this takes off, perhaps it will evolve into a full-fledged intermediate level kitchen session. Something I think Seattle needs.

Stewart Hendrickson tried to start up something similar a year or two ago, I seem to recall, but nobody or hardly anyone showed up. I am keeping my expectations very low. Feel free to invite others who might be interested. Use your judgment. Since the focus is on sharing/learning tunes, participants should have a basic level of competence on their instrument and be able to play their chosen tunes cleanly enough that others can pick it up. However, I thinkif would be fine if beginners wanted to attend mainly to listen and perhaps record some tunes to build up their basic repertoire.

[mkchen]

We have a nice new twice-monthly session going at Couth Buzzard Books/Espresso Buono Cafe, 8310 Greenwood Ave N in the heart of the Greenwood neighborhood of north Seattle. The session happens the first and third Saturdays of each month, starting at 11 am and going at least until 1 pm. The proprietors love us so far and have said we're welcome to hang out and play as long as we like. The Couth Buzzard was for years one of Seattle's favorite used bookstores until they lost their lease in 2008. They reopened in December at a new location together with Espresso Buono. The Couth's collection of used books is expanding daily, and the panini sandwiches that Espresso Buono makes are very tasty, so this is a great Saturday morning destination even if you're not playing music. The atmosphere here is relaxed, and you can actually hear yourself playing! No distracting football games on the large screen TVs. Plenty of natural light, too. But the owners are planning on getting a license for beer and wine, so you could have the best of both worlds, a bookstore session with alcohol!

The Couth Buzzard is right on the Metro #5 bus route, and there's plenty of street parking nearby, and sidewalk bike racks as well. Send your e-mail address to me at mkchenarnp@gmail.com if you'd like to be on our mailing list. My cell # is 206-370-9092 if you get lost on the way.

(The tune-sharing sessions mentioned in my previous post are on hiatus for now.)

Ming