´óÏó´«Ã½

I was thinking this morning about sessions - the free musical gatherings, usually in pubs, where people get together and perform or jam. They differ from folk clubs in that nobody gets paid and usually there's nobody in control; the performing baton goes round the room in a sort of unwritten etiquette, with people playing solos or leading the room in a set of tunes or a well known song. Many of the sessions I cut my musical teeth in were Irish sessions in Manchester in pubs like the Ducie, the Clarence and the Salutation. There, small boys still at primary school like Dezi Donnelly and Mike McGoldrick could be heard playing alongside old timers like Roger Sherlock and Tony Howley.

More mixed sessions, from Irish to Skiffle, Music Hall to Rock and Roll, happened on a haphazard basis in pubs like The Helwith Bridge in the Yorkshire Dales, where anything went, from the local window cleaner belting out blues on the piano, to members of more established bands hammering into folk standards like the Belfast Hornpipe.

There are still great sessions, but they are hard to find (they are there, but they are like the Unicorn: an elusive beast) which is a tragedy because from them come the musicians of tomorrow. Summer schools and folk camps do a great job, but you can't beat a session where people of all ages and all abilities get together simply for the craic.

Perhaps there ought to be a Good Sessions Guide and a Campaign For Real Sessions perhaps, sponsored by CAMRA?