Thursday March 28th, 2024
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The Big JIM Night

Cairo Jazz Club's Big Jam Night is back this Tuesday, and this time Egypt's most talented musicians will be getting together to pay tribute to the legendary Jim Morrison. We take the chance to honour the icon ourselves...

Staff Writer

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first.” - Jim Morrison

You would be hard pressed to find a more legendary iconic poet/singer than James Douglas Morrison. It has been over 40 years since his death and yet, every year, thousands of new ears become devoted lovers of his band, The Doors. With classics like Break on Through, The End, People are Strange, and Riders on the Storm, it isn't hard to see why they still continue to gain new fans.

The Doors were aptly named after Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception, a book about unlocking the doors of perception through the use of psychedelic drugs. In the six years the band was together they managed to put out an album a year until the untimely death of Jim Morrison after a 'questionable' overdose of heroin in Paris. His death was just another supporting example to the curse of musicians dying at the age of 27. Joining him in this cursed club are the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse to name just a few.

Unfortunately, an autopsy wasn't performed as the news of an overdose didn't seem out of the ordinary, as Jim Morrison had been spiralling out of control with every passing album. Towards the end, he’d gained a lot of weight, looked unkempt, and was almost constantly intoxicated. He was showing up to shows late if not at all, as well as trying to spark riots at shows and showing off his privates on stage, among other hijinks.

Despite all of his controversial actions, books were written about him, movies were filmed, albums kept selling, and new fans fell in love with this sex icon, even after his death. The Doors were a quintessential 60s band that defined the generation of free loving and drug taking of that time. They were and still are celebrated by just about every musical publication as one of the greatest bands and, in particular, that Jim Morrison is among the top five singers of all time. The Doors tried to continue without him, but without his poetic lyrics, his deep vocals, and his stage persona, the band failed to reach the same heights.

There is no debate over the influence and impact that Jim Morrison has made in the music industry, and if you want to learn more, next week’s your chance. Cairo Jazz Club’s brilliant Big Jam Night is back, rounding up the city’s best and most talented musicians to play together for one special night, and this time it’s a tribute to Morrison. Confirmed for the night so far are OffBeat's Mohamed Safwat; Maged Faltas, Mohamed Diab and Mohamed El Mallawany from the Bluenotes and big-haired singer/songwriter, Shady Ahmed. 

The Big Jam Night will be held on Tuesday 10th December, starting at 8pm. Make your reservation using Tazkarty.net.