Jamming the blues at The Lens, Portsmouth Guildhall

The third Blues Jam took place at The Lens, Portsmouth Guildhall, in late August, the brainchild of Guildhall CEO Andy Grays and David Robinson, a local blues musician, radio host and journalist, he of the red hat

David Robinson and Andy Grays @ Blues Jam | Ken Ebbens

placeholder image — David Robinson and Andy Grays @ Blues Jam | Ken Ebbens

A jam is where people play instruments informally with other people without a set plan, often improvising, and having fun together. Box ticked.

I went along, not a musician but a choir singer, but with a deep love for the blues and blues-based rock (eg early Whitesnake, Free etc)

One of the ensembles @ Blues Jam | Ken Ebbens

Music listeners can be quite sniffy about blues music as being a couple of repetitive chords only about the deep south in the USA….wrong!

The format is quite straightforward, a stage with drums, speakers, lights etc with David at the centre of co-ordinating all those who come on stage, supported by Andy walking around the audience; all very friendly. Everyone in the room is offered a chance to take part onstage, getting a chance to ‘solo’ as well.

Every three or four songs the ensemble on stage changed, all playing an instrument, drums, bass, electric and acoustic guitars, saxophone and harmonica, all played by different people, each creating a different sound from said instrument to various tunes or songs, some very well known (including Route 66, Let The Good Times Roll, All Right Now, I Need Your Love So Bad and The Thrill Is Gone) some not so well known, some just improvisation, seeing where the feel goes.

I had no intention in taking part when I arrived but Andy persuaded me to sing with him Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City, a song I love via Whitesnake from nearly 50 years ago, so there I was, on stage. It was great fun; as for my performance, I’ll leave that to others to comment on

Another ensemble @ Blues Jam | Ken Ebbens

I think the best song of the nearly two hours (all for £4, great value) was a slower, blusier version of Hey Joe by David, which I preferred to the original

If you have any affinity for blues music come along next time (maybe October 2026, check the Guildhall website), at the very least to hear some great blues music played by a mixture of local musicians, some of whom do not know each other, supplemented by Andy (no mean guitar player), orchestrated by David (a really proficient guitarist in his own right)

Highly recommended