40 Years of Jamming!
- Jay EuDaly
- 5 hours ago
- 5 min read
Last year, on August 9th, 2025, Mama Ray hosted the 39th Anniversary Jam at BB's.
A week later, on August 16, she hosted the second Jam of the 39th year. I thought at the time that she shouldn't be there; she wasn't functioning very well, and had called in Lori Tucker to help her. I was concerned about her driving herself home and said as much to her, but you know the Mama!
“I can drive the goddamn car, don't you worry about me!”
The next day, she went into the hospital (apparently she did drive herself home!). I visited her in the hospital the following Thursday and we talked about the logistics of keeping the jam going until she could get back in the saddle.
On Saturday, August 23rd, Lori Tucker subbed for her.
The next day, Sunday, August 24th Mama Ray passed away.
Per Mama's wishes, Lori Tucker has taken over as host. The last year has been a transition in more ways than one. You may have noticed that Allen Monroe and I have switched sides. That's because stage left is where the house PA at BB's is located and Mama Ray specifically tasked me with running the PA.
That's ironic because Mama Ray and I never agreed on how the PA should be set. I always said she set the EQ exactly opposite of how it should be. But, you know the Mama! About 25 years ago I gave up that battle. There was never a question as to who was in charge and besides that, after a decade or two of packed houses, I realized that no matter how bad I thought the PA sounded the gig wasn't broke and I shouldn't try to fix it!
It's also ironic because I HATE everything about the music business except for playing the guitar, which I dearly love. Anything that takes away from me playing guitar (like being responsible for running the PA) cuts into my fun and I resent it. Mama Ray probably understood that and is cackling to herself in the hereafter about getting the last word in and me not being able to argue with her about it.
Speaking of the PA, I have to send huge respect to George Generaux. He basically loads in all the mics, cables and stands, sets them up and sets the monitor levels and EQ. So all I have to do is come in, set up my gear and set the mains levels. I might make some minor adjustments to what George does but he takes a huge load off me and I appreciate it – take THAT Mama Ray!
The house PA appeared at BB's shortly after the Nickle Brothers bought out Lyndsay Shannon. That was a wonderful surprise because now the bands don't have to load in their own sound. However, the PA at BB's leaves a lot to be desired (2-band EQ sucks!) but it's WAY better than having to haul in my own speakers, board and power, which Mama Ray did for many, many years. I'm too old for that kind of work every week. So kudos to BB’s for their consideration towards the musicians.
Lori has done an amazing job of running the jam post-Mama Ray. Those are big shoes to fill, and a year ago I said I was going to wait a while before coming to any conclusions about the continuance of the jam.
Well, it's been a year. The jam appears to be thriving; the networking among musicians still happens, the regulars have continued to show up, the pro and semi-pro players continue to come in and play, and the tip money to the band has remained pretty consistent. I can't tell that those factors have changed much. So the jam looks like it's still got legs.
However, any time you change the front person, the atmosphere and the gestalt of the thing is going to change, you can't help it. Mama Ray was Mama Ray; Lori Tucker is who she is.
The song list has expanded greatly. As Mama Ray aged, her song list got shorter and shorter; towards the end she habitually picked from the same half-dozen songs every week. It's been a year and Lori is still pulling songs out of the hat we've never done before. I'm loving that!
Another thing about Lori is that she has maintained a good balance between taking over the gig and being who she is, while at the same time not forgetting that it's “Mama Ray's Legacy Jam.” She continually reminds the crowd of that and stays true to Mama Ray's philosophy – nurturing young talent, discouraging competition and “cutting contests” and fostering the tradition of the Kansas City sound; as Mama Ray would say, “Jazz meets Blues.”
In certain other ways Lori, as well as the rest of us, are still learning the ropes of how to do things without Mama Ray. We're trying to find the balance between getting everyone who comes in to play up on the stage, verses letting people do more than one or two songs when they do get up. That's a tough line to walk; sometimes someone signs up and waits all day and doesn't get to play, I always feel bad when that happens. Sometimes a person is called up and told they can only do one tune. I feel bad about that too. We have only 3 hours to work with, and we take but one break. Sometimes we have more jammers than time. I guess that's a good problem to have, but it's still a problem.
Another tricky thing about a jam is who you put onstage at the same time. You don't want a drummer up there who plays a shuffle when you say, “swing!” while backing a real jazz singer. Or a laid back acoustic guitar player/singer with a slamming rhythm section that can’t play quietly. Who you pair up is important.
Mama Ray generally wouldn't let whole bands up to play because “...it ain't a damn audition!” The whole point of a jam is guys who DON'T play together trying to make something happen spontaneously. I'm rethinking that position because it would allow several players up at the same time and, because they play together otherwise, the potential for a train wreck is decreased. I'm not in charge, but I do have some pull with the boss – Lori!
Anyway, August 15th is the 40th Anniversary Jam. 40 years of jamming! We're going to start an hour early and go from 1:00-5:00. Hopefully, we will be able to accommodate everyone who signs up to play.
So ya gots yer Jazz-Meets-Blues, ya gots yer world-famous BBQ, ya gots yer longest-running jam session in Kansas City history and, as always, ain't NO COVER!
What more could you ask for?
Ok - better bathrooms! 🤷
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