Jam Camp is an American jam band based in the Seattle, WA area of the Pacific Northwest. The band includes: David Broyles (guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

), Steve Munger (saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

), Michael "Smitty" Smith (guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

), Jess White (bass

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

), and Joel Veatch (drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

). The result of regular studio-based jam session

Jam session

Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...

s in the late 1980s, the project was officially dubbed Jam Camp in 1989 (a reference to camping in the studio for the debut disc's recording session). The is a band creates fusionesque

Jazz fusion

Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...

 rock-improv in the vein of The Allman Brothers, Zappa, Crimson, Soft Machine, Brand X and Traffic - bands that influenced more than a few of their 1990s jam band contemporaries. Known for their improvisational skills, Jam Camp records in the studio straight to disc, embracing a "live" feel-based approach to music appealing to fans of Progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

, Classic rock

Classic rock

Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...

, Jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 and Jam

Jam band

-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...

alike.

The band has released three CDs: Jam Camp (1990), Black Hills Jam: Preserves Vol.2 (2004) and Jam Camp Live! (2006). References to the band and reviews of their music can be found in numerous online publications including MXDWN.com, Sea of Tranquility, Progressor, Buzzle, Dutch Progressive Rock Pages, The Music Review, and Jazz World Quest.

Discography

2006: Jam Camp Live! (Flying Spot Entertainment)

2004: Black Hills Jam - Preserves Vol. II (Flying Spot Records)

1990: Jam Camp (For Art Sake Records)