Nothing flips Mark Ammar’s mood from bad to good faster than picking up drumsticks and cranking up the volume.
When Ammar starts jamming, his brain immediately switches gears and a blissful expression spreads across his face.
The St. Albert resident hosts a blues jam every Saturday at the Bourbon Room. This coming Saturday, March 7, he celebrates his 800th jam.
“I started hosting jams at the Blind Pig Pub in 2004. The third week at the Blind Pig, we had 30 people, and I thought, ‘We can do this.’ But I never thought I’d make it to 800,” he laughs.
In addition to bandmates Jimmy Guiboche (guitar), Ralph Pretz (guitar/vocals) and Randy Forsberg, country-blues singer Samantha King is featured as special guest vocalist.
A Country Vocal Spotlight winner at age 13, King has performed on festival stages with Tim McGraw, Alan Jackson, Jann Arden, Sawyer Brown and the Oak Ridge Boys to name a few.
“She switched from country to blues a few years ago. That’s when we linked up with her. She’s played with us about five or six times. Every time she jams with us, it’s a great show. Just her stage power is amazing. A local musician told me every singer in the city wants to be Samantha King,” Ammar said.
Now a happy grandfather, Ammar started banging home-built drums at age seven. By the time he was a teen, an uncle employed him at his corner grocery store. With the earnings he bought his first professional drum kit.
“Back then, it took me six months to earn $100.”
While raising a brood of children, he took a hiatus from entertaining. But the adrenalin rush and need to create pulled him back to the spotlight.
“The opportunity to play with old and new musicians keeps me going. You never know who is going to show up to a jam. It’s exactly like playing off the cuff with a band. We never learned a song in all our years playing. And musicians like Big Dave McLean keep coming back because they love it.”
Ironically, it’s the improvisational element that Ammar credits for fine-tuning his drumming style.
As forerunner of jams 16 years ago, he notes there were few bars hosting back then.
“To see what we’ve created is special. We have a very well-run show and the work we created lit a lot of fires. A lot of clubs are doing the same thing now. It’s a bit more spread out. But I’m excited about our Saturday show and I want to dedicate it to my late, great mother, a terrific hand drummer.”
The Sue & Mark Ammar Saturday Sessions take place every Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Bourbon Room.
