Jam Bands: North America's Hottest Live Groups [Paperback]

Dean Budnick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1998

Jam Bands is the first comprehensive guide to the emerging wave of improvisational music now thriving in North America. The book spans the continent, identifying more than 175 of the most noteworthy jam bands. Each entry includes photos, biographies, discographies, personal insights from band members, web site listings, and descriptions and analyses of each group's distinctive musical styles and talents. Additionally, since all the profiled bands encourage live taping, Jam Bands offers a section devoted to the art of recording concerts and building a live-music library. From Aquarium Rescue Unit to Zero, with stops along the way for moe., Medeski, Martin & Wood, Rusted Root, Strangefolk, and String Cheese Incident, Jam Bands will reacquaint readers with cherished groups and introduce new favorites, while unlocking the mysteries of taping.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

DEAN BUDNICK is the author of The Phishing Manual: A Compendium to the Music of Phish, now in its fifth printing. He is completing his Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization Program at Harvard University.

About the Author

Dean Budnick is the author of The Phishing Manual: A Compendium to the Music of Phish.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: ECW Press (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550223534
• ISBN-13: 978-1550223538
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,331,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dean Budnick, who holds a Ph.D. from Harvard's History of American Civilization program and a J.D. from Columbia Law School, is Executive Editor at Relix Magazine. His latest book, which he co-authored with Josh Baron, is Ticket Masters: The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped. Ticket Masters chronicles the previously untold story of the modern concert industry, revealing the origins, development and ongoing strategies of companies such as Ticketmaster, Live Nation, StubHub and the efforts of numerous independent competitors.

Budnick He has written three prior books on improvisational music: The Phishing Manual: A Compendium To the Music of Phish (Hyperion, 1996), Jam Bands: North America's Hottest Live Groups (ECW, 1998) and Jambands: A Complete Guide to the Players Music and Scene (Backbeat Books, 2004). He is currently revising his doctoral dissertation, which focuses on the career and legal trials of silent screen star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.

He also directed Wetlands Preserved: The Story of An Activist Rock Club, which earned numerous film festival laurels, opened nationally via First Run Features and currently airs on the Sundance Channel. Budnick is the founder of the website Jambands.com, the co-creator of the Jammy Awards and for many years co-hosted a radio show that aired weekly on XM Satellite Radio. He lives in East Greenwich, Rhode Island with his beautiful and brainy wife and two splendid children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jam Bands a wonderful resource, October 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Jam Bands: North America's Hottest Live Groups (Paperback)

This book took me by surprise. The depth of research and analysis is quite impressive- 170 Jam bands from around the country with all sorts of info about them: photos, interviews, disc reviews. The sections in the back on taping was quite helpful in clearing up some questions I had. My favorite part of the book might just be "Wetlands: Ten Years of Grooves." This book is overwhelming in the best way possible. I've already discovered some new bands and traded for a handful of tapes. If you like groove music I am quite confident you will be happily overwhelmed by Jam Bands.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A jam-packed overview of the scene, October 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Jam Bands: North America's Hottest Live Groups (Paperback)

First off, let me say that I think I have a pretty good handle on the jam/groove scene today. I live in NYC and tons of bands come through. HOWEVER, I had no idea of how much stuff is out there. After reading JAM BANDS, I do now. Dean Budnick's book does an excellenet job of explaining what's happening in the current jam rock movement. There are 170 individual essays on bands, with photos, CD reviews, interviews and more. It's a massive undertaking (and a chunky book). But that's not it because in the back of the book JAM BANDS has four more sections. The first one is all about taping and trading (as a trader but not a taper I actually learned a bit). The second section (and my favorite) is a history of the Wetlands which has interviews with the owners, the various band members who have played there (including members of Strangefolk, God Street Wine and quite a few more). The third section on magazines and stuff is cool and the game at the end is sort of weird (in a dooofy, fun way). All in all though Budnick does an amazing job of bringing all this info together, with a smooth writing style that's keeps the reader involved without being repetitive, obnoxious or otherwise lame. A fine book.