Event management at the second annual Jammys awards show, which took place last night at New York's Roseland Ballroom, might have let the jamming go too far -- an expensive hour past the midnight curfew. When one extra hour threatened to spill into two, they cut the whole deal short by hitting the house lights one song into the finale, skipping a couple songs from the Meters /Funky Meters dual stage tribute. The culminating collective ended up including Meters bassist George Porter, Jr. (who accepted the award on the bands' behalf) with the Derek Trucks house band on the side stage while jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan and harp maestro John Popper joined in from the half-dissembled main stage.

Five hours earlier -- after Derek Trucks and company had already jammed out three tunes, the Roots' Rahzel had joined DJ Logic for a brief lesson in beatboxing, and Executive Producers/Musical Directors Dean Budnick and Pete Shapiro had each welcomed the crowd -- the first of many interesting musical pairings took place. DJ Logic spun an intro for "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" until bluegrass masters the Del McCoury Band took over and kicked it into full gear, driving pedal steel phenomenon Robert Randolph to lose all control and subsequently run like a madman around his instrument.

"Are you feelin' it?" host Jim Breuer (Half Baked,Saturday Night Live) asked the already rowdy crowd afterward, then responded to cheers with a, "Yeah, me too, man." He especially "felt it" the two times he joined the house band, including a blues backed run-through of his comedy routine "The Party" (likening drinking to a party in your stomach).

Breuer also delivered the first two awards of the evening to Jam Nation for Best Radio Show and Yonder Mountain String Band for the New Groove of the Year. Rolling Stone critic Anthony DeCurtis appeared again this year, presenting the Release of the Year award for Ladies and Gentlemen, The Grateful Dead and Paul Shaffer strolled in from the Ed Sullivan Theater a block away to honor "Mountains of the Moon/Dark Star/I am the Walrus," a medley from the New Years Eve 2000 show by Phil & Friends with Mike Gordon (Phish), as the Jam of the Year. Phish won Album of the Year for Farmhouse and Live Performance of the Year for their July 11, 2000 Deer Creek show. The band could not attend, but instead guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon sent letters of thanks on the band's behalf.

Les Claypool was on hand to accept the Best Live Album award for Live Frogs, Set I, a win which came as a surprise to some fans who expected the Allman Brothers Band or Widespread Panic to dominate the category. The Mockingbird Foundation (which recently released the Phish Companion and will soon release a two-CD Phish tribute album) received the newly renamed Mimi Fishman Memorial Award for community service from David Shulman of the Mimi Fishman Foundation; the cumulatively named award for dedication to the scene -- now called the Topper/Zahn Award after the creator and first recipient -- went to Howie Schnee of Creative Entertainment Group. Relix owner Steve Bernstein and Hot Tuna guitarist Mike Falzarano gave www.Etree.org the award for Fan Web site (the second year it has won it) and named Gathering of the Vibes (which kicks off tonight in Red Hook, N.Y.), the Best Festival.

Though there were more awards than acts scheduled, Shapiro explained near the outset that it sometimes seems like awards shows are mere forums for shameless celebrity promotion. The Jammys, he asserted, emphasize the music, giving performers "an excuse to come together and play."

The collaborations were certainly the focus of this show. Derek Trucks switched stages to play with Steve Kimock and Col. Bruce Hampton. Hampton later hooked back up with Trucks, along with Robert Randolph and Yonder Mountain String Band's Jeff Austin for "Turn on Your Lovelight." The Tom Tom Club covered Phish's "Sand" and enlisted Spearhead 's Michael Franti for old TTTC favorites "Genius of Love" and "Wordy Rappinghood." Trance jammers Lake Trout crossed genres, playing Ramones classics "I Wanna Be Sedated" and "Blitzkreig Bop," with Marky Ramone himself as well as Misfit Jerry Only (decked out in full devil lock and spiked leather jacket regalia).

Paul Shaffer and Junior Brown sat in with Les Claypool's crew for "Taxman" (with a tease from Primus' "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver") and a common Frog Brigade cover of King Crimson's "Thela Hun Ginjeet." Rahzel took the stage again with Soulive and George Porter, Jr. (who was filling in for an absentee Me'Shell Ndegeocello ) to play the Michael Jackson hit "Billie Jean." Although some fans felt the version fell a bit flat, a fully funky "Soul Power," featuring Derek Trucks Band vocalist Javier Colon, was extremely well-received. And the audience, as well as several members of the venue security, found themselves completely enthralled when the Disco Biscuits -- accompanied by DJ Logic, John Popper and Stanley Jordan -- tore through the epic Jane's Addiction tune "Three Days" and Led Zeppelin's "Bring It On Home."

"We wanted to bring artists who not only hadn't played together, but hadn't met," Shapiro reminisces. "And now, after experiencing what went down, it's a pretty overwhelming feeling."

ROBIN A. ROTHMAN
(June 29, 2001)