Well around here, that would be Pennsylvania...the Lehigh Valley to be more precise we have several jams. On any given night you can find at least one (blues) jam or open mike of sorts taking place. The purpose of the jams around here is for people to get together and have a learning experience. Regardless of your level of skill or how something should be played, all present are very open minded about what is going on. You are given an opportunity to sometimes play with people you have never played with before...regarless of whether or not they are on the same level of talent that you are or whether or not they agree with how you play your pieces musically. You may also be given the opportunity to play with your favorite musician who may be in another band.

Music is about expression, regardless of whether it is the blues, jazz, irish, etc. and the purpose of a jam is just that to jam. If you are jamming by rights you should not be staying within the confines of how a specific song was written, the person playing should be allowed to express themselves no matter how poorly or how well others think he/she (must be politically correct I suppose) is playing.

Around here jams are a place to be able to practice and work out the knots in what you are doing. All involved are supportive and will offer constructive critism and help. It is a place to have fun and to get everyone from all aspects of the culture involved with one another and to network and learn.

If this is not how the jams you are attending run, I would seriously consider finding another jam or open mike to attend. It is my strong belief that this is how a jam should be and no one regardless of how they play or at what level they play should be excluded. That is not what music is about. Music is the universal language, something that everyone can understand and learn from regardless of culture, race, etc. and making it 'elite' would be taking away from that. It brings people together like nothing else in the world can, why degrade that by only allowing certain people to play.