Inside a Small Circle of Friends:
The John Street Jam
by Peter Aaron
Delaney echoes the sentiment. “It’s a really beautiful
gathering of regional musicians,” says the burly Bronx native. “Terri
makes a nice, big meal for the musicians before the show, and we get
to hang out and talk and play a little beforehand. We love it.” Although
the musicians are unpaid, they know they are always guaranteed a rapt,
appreciative audience at the Jam and that the obscenely low door price
(still $3 after five years) will leave the attendees plenty of extra
cash to spend on the CDs the artists bring to sell.
As Sferazo labors to speak, his lungs decimated from breathing in
the contaminated air the EPA assured him and his coworkers was entirely
safe, he talks about his group’s mission to raise awareness of
the plight of affected 9/11 rescue and recovery workers and to reverse
legislation that limits federal aid for what are latent, long–term
illnesses to many. It’s tears all around as Fowler follows the
speech with his rendition of Kabak’s 9/11–themed “Towers
of Love,” and saxophonist Gus Mancini, who lost a relative in
the attacks, delivers an affecting solo in memoriam. But a mood of
optimism returns soon enough as Fowler leads the room in a rousing
singalong of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer,” bringing
the evening to a triumphantly optimistic close.
“This was a really great time, very inspiring,” Fowler
says later. “I hadn’t met Steve and Terri before tonight—they’re
really doing something great here. We made the connection through Stuart
[Kabak] and Monty [Delaney]. Both of them had already played here and
I’m a fan of them both, so I’d heard good things [about
the Jam].” CONTINUE...
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