Band Swaps Sleepy S.D. for Club-Hopping Seattle

Another local band has left town in search of greener or, in this case, wetter pastures. Jambay, the quartet featuring former UCSD music students Shelly Doty and Chris Haugen (guitars, vocals), Mike Sugar (bass), and Matt Butler (drums, vocals), moved to Seattle a month and a half ago. Technically, that made their well-received Oct. 23 show at Winston’s in Ocean Beach a “road gig.”

In a phone interview Monday from the group’s adopted hometown, Butler attributed Jambay’s move north both to San Diego’s subpar music scene and to Seattle’s thriving counterpart.

“People in San Diego just aren’t going out a lot, and that makes it difficult to generate a real happening music scene down there,” Butler said. “By comparison, we had played in Seattle before, and there are tons of clubs here and lots of people going out. Already, we’ve developed followings in Eugene (Ore.) and Bellingham (Wash.), as well as here in Seattle.”

Jambay’s relocation came five months after the release of its first full-fledged recording effort, a self-titled CD issued on the La Jolla-based Run If You Can Records. The 11-cut album of original music clocks in at just under an hour, and features some of the tangiest workouts released by San Diego musicians in a long time.

While there are song structures on “Jambay,” the album captures the essence of a largely improvisational approach that convenes elements of jazz, King Crimson-like progressive-rock, and Grateful Dead-ish interplay--hardly terms that excite club owners, let alone record companies. Butler acknowledged that the band’s style is not the quickest route to success, but he hopes the quartet can use its esoteric quotient to its advantage.

“Our live show is about 60 or 70% improv,” he said. “At our CD-release party (at the UCSD Price Center in May), for example, we improvised while the film ‘Fantasia’ played behind us. That kind of thing can freak people out, so we’re trying to figure out the best way to sell ourselves to a record label. In the meantime, we feel we can create our own market by maintaining a grass-roots approach--appealing to those who like this sort of thing and gradually building a hub of interest on both coasts by touring a lot.”

Since its release last May, “Jambay” has sold about 500 copies--mostly at the band’s gigs, although copies can be found at the Off the Record stores, Lou’s in Encinitas, CD Sounds on Miramar Road, and the Sports Arena Tower Records. The band is hoping to produce its own multimedia concert at the Price Center Theatre in early 1992.

With today’s official announcement of “major” new developments at Sea World--including the addition of a shark exhibit and a regular attraction featuring the Ed McMahon, er, Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales, one wonders about the possibility of reviving the series of concerts presented a few years ago at the marine theme park’s Nautilus Amphitheatre.

You might recall that in 1988 Sea World presented 15 jazz, pop, and country concerts at the 4,200-seat outdoor venue as part of its 25th anniversary. Major acts such as Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald and Miami Sound Machine attracted large crowds, but shows featuring jazz greats Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, George Shearing, John McLaughlin and Miles Davis sold poorly.

Later that year, the powers-that-were decided to get out of the concert business, and, according to Sea World’s public relations manager, that decision has not been reversed.

“As you know, concert promotion is a very competitive business,” Dan Le Blanc said Monday. “We did one show there last year with the Pointer Sisters, and we’re in the talking stages about a couple of shows for the coming year. Otherwise, there are no plans to use the amphitheatre regularly for concerts.”

GRACE NOTES: (Tickets for the following concerts will be sold at all TicketMaster outlets unless otherwise specified).

Warm on the heels of its latest release, “Catfish Rising,” Jethro Tull has been booked into Golden Hall for a Dec. 16 show. Chrissy Steele will open. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday at all TicketMaster outlets, but will not be sold at the Golden Hall box office until normal weekday office hours resume Monday.

Thursday’s “Halloween Celebration” show featuring the Pixies and Pere Ubu at SDSU’s Montezuma Hall is sold out. . . . Two shows featuring Filipino superstars are coming to the San Diego Convention Center. On Saturday, television celebrities Martin Nievera and Pops Fernandez (husband and wife, respectively) will perform in the “Sail Area,” and on Nov. 29, 14-year-old female pop star Banig, who won television’s “Star Search” competition a couple of years ago, will concertize in the center’s ballroom. For ticket information, call the center’s concert hotline at 525-5678.

The Meat Puppets perform at SDSU’s Backdoor on Nov. 7. . . . Two pillars of ‘70s rock visit town Nov. 10. While Leon Russell is performing two shows at Carlsbad’s Raintree Restaurant, guitar slinger Johnny Winter will be holding sway at Sound FX (formerly the Bacchanal, 560-8022). . . . Billy Falcon has been added to the Nov. 16 bill headlining Richie Sambora at the Spreckels.

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart’s entrepreneurship on behalf of various world musics is credited with the current tour that will bring the Gyuto Tantric Choir to the University of San Diego’s Shiley (formerly Camino) Theatre on Nov. 17. The ensemble of Tibetan monks performs the multiphonic sacred chanting that has been part of Buddhist rites since the 15th Century. The program is being presented by the Center for World Music, USD, and the Hart-founded Society for Gyuto Sacred Arts.

Leo’s Little Bit O’ Country, the San Marcos country-western emporium, has announced the remainder of its 1991 Sunday evening concert schedule. Eddy Raven headlines Sunday, followed by Gary Morris on Nov. 17 and Charlie Daniels on Dec. 18. Jerry Reed opens Leo’s 1992 season Jan. 12. For ticket information, call 744-4120.

Three contributors to the immensely popular “Winter Solstice” series of seasonal (non-traditional) recordings on the Windham Hill label will perform a same-named program Dec. 19 at Symphony Hall. The Winter Solstice tour features pianists Philip Aaberg and Barbara Higbie, and the Celtic-flavored acoustic quartet, Nightnoise. Ticket availability will be announced soon.