Free Blues Jam in Stockholm

The Stampen jazz club is a little room with a sound so big that it drifts out of the open door and through the narrow streets of Gamla Stan (Old Town) on Saturday afternoons, attracting locals and tourists like a Pied Piper with soul.

Amateur and professional musicians filter in during the four-hour jam session filling the small stage (that could double for a typical blues club in the U.S.) and spread onto the floor playing blues standards to music aficionados who strain and struggle to get a closer look.

Blues guitarist and New York native, Brian Kramer, started the afternoon jam sessions more than 10 years ago as a way to spread the blues in the Swedish city. It’s designed to be a friendly environment that challenges amateur and professional musicians while entertaining the audience.

At one point between songs, Kramer, emphasizing the universal language of the blues and the improvisational nature of the jam, said “I don’t know this guy from Adam (pointing to a tall, round bass player standing next to him) but we just made some music together.”

Stampen, Stora Nygatan 5, Gamla Stan, Stockholm. The Blues Jam is held Saturdays, 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Below is a video of the blues jam. Kramer is in the center wearing a hat.