Jazzy Jim was feeling bored. Needed to fill time. So he filled, at 4/4 time.
They call him Jazzy because he was a “prodigy” at music school. (Which always means jazz when it doesn’t mean classical; there’s no call for rock prodigies.) In junior high, Jim gave up the noodling genre for a harder-hitting calling.
We remember J.J.’s transition well. He debuted at the Bullfinch with an elaborate multi-trapped kit that barely fit the stage. Within four shows, he’d retreated to a bare minimum of things to bang on, even settling for bongos or trashcans when backing ??Throp?? (which has six lead singers and sucks all the air out of the room in other ways as well).
Last Thursday Jazzy Jim was with The Captive Toiling when he made his rebellious move. Started kicking a drum, and not the kick drum. Knocking down and kicking a trap, as if it was a falling rugby player in a scrum. Kicking in perfect time.
“No, I didn’t practice it,” he laughed after the set. “And I may never do it again.” Not that his bandmates would mind if he did. “A heads-up would’ve been nice,” says bassist Bobby Imbiberot, who dropped a few notes during the melee. “But I don’t want anyone to get bored by our music. Especially the drummer.”

The Captive Toiling bang a drum tonight at the Bullfinch, with Sick and Wounded Soldiers… The Great Liberators at Hamilton’s, for three sets… Potomac’s Wave and Life Among the Lowly at D’ollaire’s…