So we played Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Old Joe Clark, Lonesome Road Blues, Themetime, Dixie Breakdown, Make Me A Pallet On The Floor, Sally Ann, Farewell Blues, and Bluegrass Breakdown. Learn the original arrangements. Then you can do your own thing. I was aghast at our recent IBMA Trade Show when I tried to initiate a jam with a young professional banjo player who did not know Fireball Mail. The thing that impressed me most about these icons of the banjo world was that they are incredibly polite in these showcase jams.
Nobody tries to outgun anybody.
There is no fancy Scruggs backup when someone else is playing lead. Sometimes a player would quit vamping entirely just to listen closely to someone else. Still and yet, after about an hour, I was banjoed-out. As I left, I heard them launching into Cowboys and Indians, which, with apologies to Big E, I never learned. I went upstairs where the Nitchies had thoughtfully provided refreshments.