Hey Folks, 

Steve here. 

I woke up the morning after the “Big Mama-Jama Jamathon” and I thought… did that really happen?

Preparing for an event like this was one of the more challenging projects I had ever endeavored to manifest. And the results far exceeded any of our expectations. The generosity of spirit from all the performers, the crew, the tireless workers, the companies and people who donated (all whom contributed their time, efforts and resources for this charity event), and of course the live and online audiences, is humbling and deeply inspiring.

The flow of the event was virtually seamless. There’s no way to describe how uplifting the back stage environment was with all the musicians that were coming and going. The myriad performers all with diverse offerings made the whole audio/visual experience vibrantly colorful. You can see list of all the performers here. And standing on the stage, greeting so many musicians, many I knew, and feeling the energies from all these players, having an opportunity to connect on that intimate level of listening and instantly co-creating with them, was for me, the stuff dreams are made out of. If my job every day was to play with these rotating musicians for 14 hours a day, I would never have to work. 

My hands may have a complaint, but they know my antics by now. 

And being able to support such a vital organization as Extraordinary Families is a blessing. Thank you infinitely for all your contributions.  EF is an exceptional organization that offers adoptions, foster care, transitional mentoring and many other quality of life offerings for those children that are in such need. So far we have raised over $100k for them, and our auction and Pledge campaigns are still running! You can check them out on http://www.Jamathon.org .

The fact that our statistics show that we have received close to 2.5 million click throughs, over half a million people viewed the Jamathon and it was seen in ? countries around the world, is just staggering to us all. And check out our new “Big Mama-Jama Jamathon” page on vai.com (include link) for the names of all the artists that jammed at the event, and also photos. 

I am deeply indebted to all those that gave so freely of their time, resources and talents to make this event a reality. 

I’m so much looking forward to the next “Big Mama-Jama Jamathon,” although I don’t know when that will be. Gotta get back in the studio and start recording. 

The spirit of charity is a powerful transformer. It has the potential to change a persons state of mind and quality of life and to embrace it is a blessing. Even if a person has nothing to give, the sincere thought of charity is enough, for thoughts are communicative and add to the collective consciousness of all humanity. 

Giving feels best when there is no desire for anything in return. That’s what love is, because real love has no exceptions for itself. It’s unconditional and is what we are made out of at the core of our being.

We are all “Extraordinary”.

s

Steve Vai
Moby
Dave Navaro
Orianthi
Al DiMeola
Steve Morse
Nuno Bettencourt
Dweezil Zappa and his band
Derek Smalls and his band
Vernon Reid
Andy Vargas (and his band)
Lee Ritenour (and his band)
Brendon Small
Doyle Dykes
Allee Willis
John Lowery (John 5)
Derek Dey
Tosin Abasi
Doug Macleod
Nita Strauss
Dug Pinnik
Eric Sardinas and his band
Brooks Wackerman
Chad Wackerman
Mohini Dey
Bob Carpenter
Nicolas Meier and band
Lee Roy Parnell
Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley
Joe Robinson
David Pack

Larry Mitchell
Carl Verheyen
Herman Lee
Pete Thorn
Daniel Gottardo
Doug Rappoport
Stig Mathisen (and his posse)
Lyle Workman
Naia Izumi
Jeff Boders
Jeff Berlin
Armand Sebal Lecco
Matt Rohde
Eric Boyd

Dean Brown
Joe Reyes
Jacob Quistgaard
Adam Skeppar
Niklas Myrback
Bhargav
Jamie Kiem
Sheila Gonzales
Zues
Rob Garland
Erik Carlson
Zaen Carney
McCoy Mason
Art Sanchez
Miles Baker
Valla Di
Mike Georgia
Jairo Camacho
Jason Paige
Adam Levy
Mason Stoops
Alex DePue
John Seguine and his band
Jeff Marshall
Andre Nieri
Trey Wanvig
Alex Sill
Pricila Bara
Amy and Andy
Richard Doyle
Allen Hinds
Neil Citron
Fredrick Jennings
Trentyn Urick-Stasa
Brett Tuggle
Al Joseph
Hedras Ramos
Ryan Firpo
Derek Post
Mike Georgia
Jarred James Nichols
Fernando Pullum and is chior
Nicolas Veinoglou
Emir Isilay
Steve Foster and his band
Roman Martynenko
Carlolina Eyck
Jeremy Colson
Philip Bynoe
Dave Rosenthal
Kenny Aronogg
Author Barrow
Michael Arrom
Peter Griffin
John Truscelli
Colin Cook
Reuben Gingrich
Zephyr Avalon
Rafael Moreira
Violution
Justin Apergis
John Nevolo
Trey Wanvig
Art Menesez
Owen Bradly
Luis Kalil
Josh Seguin