Anyone who's had the good fortune of making music with Terry Alexander knows what I mean when I say that it can be a transcendental experience. Terry is a sculpter of sound. He has been gifted by the Great Spirit with processors and receptors that go far beyond that which most of humans have. He hears, not with just ears, but with every square inch of his skin. He speaks, not with just the movement of lips and tongue and the vibration of vocal chords, but with fingers and eyes.
I had this vision a few weeks ago. Some People in town were wearing these buttons that, when viewed from afar, had a kind of abstract almost psychadelic look to them, but when examined up close, the swirling colors, highlights and shadows became an image of Terry Alexander, rising like smoke from a Genies Bottle. On the button were the words, "I played with Terry Alexander".
"Where'd you get that button?"
And the person wearing would smile and say, "I played with Terry at Table Ten's SOCO n'JAM last night."
And the person asking would invariably say, "SOCO n'JAM? What's that?"
"It's like bread and butter. It's like toast and jam. It's things that go together. Like Terry Alexander and the Guitar. Like Table Ten and Jamming. There is no place in town quite like Table Ten. It's like if I had a bar in my living room, it might be kind of like being in Table Ten. Well, it'd be a little bit different."
"A little?", the person might question.
"OK, maybe a lot, Everybody's different. We all got our ideas of what comfortable means. But even if all those ideas are different. And if for some comfort is cotton and for other's it's leather ... it's still this idea of comfort. That's what the bar at Table Ten is like. When you're in there, you feel like it's ok to be yourself. And the most important thing about making music is being willing to share yourself honestly and completely. if you want those notes to truly sing, you got to be willing to open the doors to your heart and soul and let those sounds out as they are. If you try and filter them to much then it's no longer about the music being made as much as it is about the perception of how it's being received."
At this point, the person asking questions is probably looking confused.
"Look", says the button wearing convert. "Terry brought that out in me. I played with Terry and we sounded good. And I couldn't stop smiling and I'm still smiling. See! Look at me. This is what a Jam Session is all about. A Jam Session is not about competition and ego. A Jam Session is about creating community through the act of tolerant sharing."
"How do I get one of those buttons?"
"When you Jam with Terry Alexander."
"And when's that?"
"Saturday, December 27 at Table Ten."
"Can I have your button?"
"No way! That button is a direct connection to some fine collected memories. I did jam with Terry once. And Man, I gotta tell you. I gotta thing for Toast!"
SOCO n'JAM
with Terry Alexander
and the house band, "THE TOMORROW PEOPLE"
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, starting at 9pm
Table Ten Fullerton
714-526-3210
You don't need a PA. Bring your vocal chords and your instruments.
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