LINCOLN CENTER JAMS CONTINUE . . . WITH LIMITATIONS

                          OR ANY WEEKLY JAM IS BETTER THAN NONE

YBA president Sharon Karlson has made this announcement: "We will begin jamming at the Lincoln Center this Friday,. Jan. 16th. at 7:15 PM. The evening Adult Ed classes will run until May 22nd, with a few exceptions of holiday closings in the mean time, and I will let you know the school closings before they come up...... Thanks. See ya there!"

That does sound pretty good, however it is far from ideal. Way back when I negotiated the first jams there the SE door, corner of 4th Ave and 29th St,  going straight down into the Band room was left open from about 6:30 until after 9 PM. You could show up whenever.  Parking was close by so carrying a bass or a couple of instruments was not a problem. In recent years, due to security issues, that ease of entry was continually tightened up. Now the only entry is at the opposite or NW corner of the building and even that door is always locked. The Lincoln is large. My parents graduated from Billings High School there and I attended the only Jr. High  in town later.

Now the YBA can only get in on Friday evenings IF an Adult Ed class is occurring and a security guard is there to open the locked door. Fortunately instruction in classical guitar is scheduled this year while all other classes are NOT on Fridays at any time. While that is good it also produces the limitations. The guard goes off duty at 7 PM. For pickers to get into the building they have to be at the door before 7 PM. Did I say the building is large?  Once inside you will still need to walk more than two city blocks down the halls with your instruments. Easy with a mouth harp, but not so comfortable carrying a heavy banjo, two instruments, or a 4/4 bass. After arriving at the band room you now need to wait to get in. You will likely NOT begin jamming at 7:15. The guitar class lasts until 7:15. Unless they stop earlier, YBA pickers have to wait in the hall while the students put their guitars in cases, put on coats, and exit the room.  As a result bluegrassers will be lucky to begin the jam much before 7:30 and must end by 9 PM.  What was originally at least a 2 hour jam is reduced to 90 minutes or less. Of course pickers can then gravitate to Hardee's for more. Or would it just be wiser to go to Hardee's at 8 PM and pick for 2 or more hours there?


Was this post nitpicking?  Absolutely. Having any type of weekly jam is better than none for sure. But,  I haven't even mentioned the problem of inviting new people to attend via the media when they don't know the vagaries of getting into the place.  Nor the possibility of no one signing up for classical guitar on one of the other two ADULT ED sessions for Spring 2015.

As I have said many times before virtually NO ONE comes every week.  Some may love this situation, but the best pickers and most board members will not be there. The other activities of the YBA are very good including the showcases, the two Saturday jams on Central, the barbecues and picnics. As for me I may go to the Lincoln once in awhile, however I'll more likely settle into my easy chair on Friday nights and chuckle at Grimm, enjoy Hawaii 5-0, and then fall asleep before the Blue Bloods catch all the bad guys on my big screen TV.