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The Jazz Cruise is the first and only full ship charter dedicated to "straight-ahead" jazz. The Jazz Cruise 2011 sails from Ft. Lauderdale aboard Holland America’s m/s Noordam.
The Jazz Cruise is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a full-ship charter in 2011.
Although TJC '11 is over 80 percent sold at this time, cabins in most categories remain, so book now by calling Jazz Cruises or emailing us.
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TJC ’11
January 30 - February 6, 2011
Ft. Lauderdale
Nassau
San Juan
St. Maarten
Half Moon Cay
Holland America's m/s Noordam
TJC ’12
January 29 - February 5, 2012
Ft. Lauderdale
Aruba
Curacao
Half Moon Cay
Holland America's m/s Westerdam
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TJC ’11 MOURNS THE PASSING OF MARTIN DREW; CHUCK REDD TO PERFORM
Sadly, The Jazz Cruise 2011 is mourning the passing of English drummer Martin Drew (pictured above), who died at the very young age of 66 on July 29, 2010. Renowned for being the drummer of choice by Ronnie Scott and Oscar Peterson, Martin was well-loved, well-regarded and well-respected throughout the jazz world.
Chuck Redd (pictured below) will be stepping in to take Martin’s place on TJC ’11. Chuck Redd is an accomplished performer on both drums and vibraphone. Chuck began performing and recording internationally when he joined the Charlie Byrd Trio in 1980 at the age of 21. That year, he also joined the Great Guitars (Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd and Herb Ellis). To his credit are 13 extensive European tours and five tours of Japan, with the Barney Kessel Trio, Ken Peplowski, Terry Gibbs and Conte Candoli. He served as Artist-In-Residence at The Smithsonian Jazz Café in Washington, D.C., from 2004-2008.
Redd is featured on over 70 recordings. Recent releases include his Arbors CD, "All This and Heaven Too," featuring Gene Bertoncini and George Mraz, and "The Swing Kings," an all-star session featuring Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Ray Kennedy and Ken Peplowski. He can also be heard on the sound track to the popular PBS television series "The Great Chefs” and the NPR broadcast "Jazz Smithsonian." In addition to leading his own groups, Chuck was a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra for 15 years. He frequently performs in New York City and headlines nationally at festivals and clubs. Chuck is on the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Music and presents master classes, workshops and lectures around the country.
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THE JAZZ CRUISE 2011 IS 90% SOLD; ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR TJC ‘12
The Jazz Cruise 2011. With five months to go before sailing, The Jazz Cruise 2011 is 90 percent sold. Guests are flocking to the cruise from all over the U.S. and nearly 20 foreign countries. Though the cabin sale amount is high, great cabins remain in almost every category.
Why is The Jazz Cruise 2011 so Popular?
The formula is simple: talent, talent, talent. TJC ’11 sports a cavalcade of jazz musicians, vocalists and personalities better than any festival, concert or event in the world. With jazz legends like Johnny Mandel, George Wein, James Moody, Bucky Pizzarelli and Freddy Cole; top star vocalists like Nnenna Freelon, Jane Monheit, Janis Siegel, Jamie Davis, Dena DeRose and Clairdee; its own big band with musicians such as Butch Miles, Wycliffe Gordon and Terrell Stafford; all-star performers like Ken Peplowski, Anat Cohen, Jeff Hamilton, Shelly Berg and Houston Person; and performing groups such as Clayton Brothers Quintet, Randy Brecker Quintet, Tommy Igoe Sextet and so many others, it is no surprise that The Jazz Cruise 2011 is a big hit!
There’s Still Time to Bring a Friend – Great Cabins Remain!
For those of you lucky enough to have made your reservation, it will not be too much longer before this week of amazing music comes alive, but you do have time to tell your friends and bring another couple or a friend along for the cruise. For those who have not booked as yet, normally by this date only a few cabin categories remain, but, for this cruise, despite the huge sales numbers, a few cabins remain in almost all categories, and several cabins are still available in some of the more popular categories.
Whether you are looking for an inside cabin, outside cabin, veranda cabin or a suite, there is a cabin available for you to reserve. Call Jazz Cruises now to make your reservation! These cabins will not last forever.
The Jazz Cruise 2012. Yes, that is not a misprint. It is time to start thinking about The Jazz Cruise 2012. The cruise is set to sail, again on Holland America, from Ft. Lauderdale to Aruba, Curacao and the private island of Half Moon Cay (how exotic!) from January 29-February 5, 2012. Once again the cruise “Where the Legends have Played and the Tradition Continues” will feature the best lineup of “straight-ahead” jazz musicians in the world!
Send Us Your Top Ten!
One of the fascinating aspects of The Jazz Cruise is the wealth of knowledge that our guests have about the various musicians. And where there is a “wealth of knowledge,” there is also a “plethora of opinions”!! We have decided to tap into that resource and so we are asking you, our TJC aficionados, to send us your list of the 10 musicians or performing groups that you wish to see and hear perform on TJC ’12. Again, we are asking for not more than 10 names, as we want to really see who our fans crave.
You can submit a list in one of three ways:
Thanks for your opinion in advance. We are very eager and excited to see what names are submitted. This should be fun and very informative.
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LET’S PLAY THE NAME GAME
Confusion is not a good thing when you are in a service business. Quite frankly, the name “Jazz Cruises, LLC” is often confused with our cruise names, The Jazz Cruise, LLC, and The Smooth Jazz Cruise, LLC. To maintain our “Jazz Cruises” identity while adhering to the need to have an entity enter into our contracts, we have decided to form Entertainment Cruise Productions, LLC. ECP will do business as Jazz Cruises.
How does this affect you, our wonderful guests? Not at all. You may see the ECP name from time to time and under the logo, but all of our operations and personnel remain the same. Contacting our office via e-mail will be slightly different. Our website will be www.jazzcruises-ecp.com and all of our e-mail addresses will be name@jazzcruises-ecp.com! E-mails to our old addresses will forward to the new ones for the time being, so you have time to adapt. And if you visit our old web page, you will automatically be redirected to the new page.
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FRIENDS OF JAZZ CRUISES
JAZZ CRUISES SUPPORTS GREAT MUSIC THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY
The St. Louis Gateway Classic. For nearly two decades, The St. Louis Gateway Classic has featured a college football game between two historic black schools, with the proceeds going to fund scholarships for needy and deserving students. Visionary leader, smooth jazz aficionado and Gateway Classic President, Rich Gray, is adding an amazing smooth jazz show to the weekend’s festivities. The 1st annual THE NIGHT BEFORE JAZZ SHOW will be held Friday, September 24, at 8 p.m. at the 560 Music Center and star the one-and-only Jonathan Butler and St. Louis’ own jazz saxophonist Tim Cunningham. It will be a great, great show and an even better cause! For tickets, go online to www.metrotix.com and get your seats for this event. There are some VIP+ seats and a pre-concert party for those purchasing VIP tickets.
Birdland. Perhaps the No. 1 classic jazz joke involves a man asking another man on the street, “How do you get to Birdland?” The other man, obviously a player, says “Practice man, practice.” The interesting element here is not the punch line, but that, out of all the jazz clubs in the world, this iconic story was about Birdland. That’s inescapable testimony to what a very special and hallowed venue Birdland has been, is and will be. In the very heart of Manhattan, right in Times Square, Birdland is a universal mecca of jazz music. The Jazz Cruise is sponsoring the Friday afternoon/evening Tommy Igoe Birdland Big Band shows at Birdland, and we are very proud to consider Birdland a “partner” in our programs.
For those of you who live in New York or plan to visit there, Birdland has extended a very special offer to friends of Jazz Cruises: Two tickets for the price of one for any 11 p.m. show Tuesday through Friday, or 5 percent off the ticket price for any Tommy Igoe Birdland Big Band Show. Phone reservations are required. Call 212.581.3080 and use the promo code "JazzCruises".
Monterey Jazz Festival. If the casual jazz fan were asked to name a jazz festival, the odds are that Monterey would come to mind. That may be because the Monterey Jazz Festival (MJF) is the world’s longest-running jazz festival and is often voted as the world’s best. Located in the serene and somewhat surreal Monterey Peninsula area, the festival is almost as much about ambience, culinary exploits and nature as it is about jazz. Remember, we said “almost”! MJF is a music lover’s paradise with over 500 artists, 85 performances, three nights and two days of the world’s best jazz for as little as $35.
September 17-19, 2010, are the dates for the 53rd Annual Monterey Jazz Festival Presented by Verizon, and tickets can be obtained by calling the ticket office during normal business hours (PDT) at 925.275.9255, faxing a request to 925.866.9597, e-mailing a request to ticketoffice@montereyjazzfestival.org or going online to www.montereyjazzfestival.org and entering your order. If you can possibly attend this festival for even one day, you should do so. Jazz Cruises will have a booth at the festival this year at which our Win A Free Cruise Contest will be featured.
FREE TICKETS FOR MJF: If you are willing to spend 8 hours at the booth over the weekend, we will buy your ticket for the festival!! We are looking for 8 volunteers. Submit your name and preferred hours to Michael Lazaroff at michael@jazzcruisesllc.com or just call us toll free at 888.852.9987 and ask for Michael.
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DANE BUTCHER INTERVIEWS GERALD ALBRIGHT ON THE SET OF AMERICAN IDOL
A few months ago I was lucky enough to catch up with multi-instrumentalist, award-winning Saxophonist, Gerald Albright, as he took a few minutes out of his busy schedule on the set of the American Idol Finale.
Click here to listen to what he had to say...
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The Smooth Jazz Cruise 2011 is nearly sold out, but with a few cancellations occurring, there is currently some availability for both weeks...not many, but there are cabins!
If you wish to join us for SJC'11, but the current cabin selections do not meet your needs, then put your name on the Wait List. At present, the Wait List is short, and history tells us that at least 100 cabins change hands between now and the time of sailing.
SJC '12 has been on sale for 60 days and is already nearly 50 percent sold!
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SJC ‘11 (Week 1)
January 16 - 23, 2011
SJC ‘11 (Week 2)
January 23 - 30, 2011
Ft. Lauderdale
Nassau
St. Thomas
Tortola
Half Moon Cay
Holland America's m/s Noordam
SJC ‘12 (Week 1)
January 15 - 22, 2012
SJC ‘12 (Week 2)
January 22 - 29, 2012
Ft. Lauderdale
Nassau
St. Thomas
St. Barth's
Half Moon Cay
Holland America's m/s Westerdam
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SJC ’11 ADDS JOEY DeFRANCESCO TO ITS SOLD-OUT SAILINGS
Why would The Smooth Jazz Cruise 2011 be adding jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco now, after the cruise was a complete sell-out? Because he is a monster musician and showman, and our goal is to produce the very best cruise possible. Joey D is currently touring with David Sanborn in a trio configuration, though with the multi talents of Joey D (vocalist, trumpet and organ), it is more like a quintet!
The Smooth Jazz Cruise is famous for bringing on that something just out of the mainstream that fits perfectly into our fun and exciting adult music theme. If you wish to continue to earn the title Greatest Party at Sea, you are obligated to bring it each and every year. By adding Joey D, we have added a certified, if not certifiable, party animal and musician extraordinaire. You will just love him!
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SUPPORT SMOOTH JAZZ SPOT
Jazz Cruises is proud to be a sponsor and an affiliate with Smooth Jazz Spot and the work performed by its founder and administrator, Ken Levinson. Ken invites each of you to join the largest Smooth Jazz social group on Facebook, with over 13,500 members. Make new friends, and find lots of interesting content, including discussions, incredible contests, 3,400+ fabulous pictures, 1,600+ Smooth Jazz videos, exceptional resources, and information on Smooth Jazz events. Ken assures us that the members have lots of fun and absolutely love the site. To participate, go to: www.SmoothJazzSpot.com.
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SUPPORT BB JAZZ FESTIVAL
One of the most high end festivals, each and every year, is the BB Jazz Festival, which is slated for September 11 this year at Huntington Beach. It's produced by fellow cruisers and impresarios Betty and Corky Bennish, a couple that truly knows how to wine and dine their guests. Great food, great setting, and one of the largest and most exciting lineups of smooth jazz artists around. For more information, go to www.bbjazz.com. Do not miss this great event!
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THE EXTRAORDINARY JAMES MOODY
Hearing James Moody is an extraordinary, multi-sensory experience that embodies a display of his musical mastery, his uniquely identifiable voice on alto and tenor sax (he also plays flute), and vocal stylings and more. Moody, who is a genuinely happy, humorous, delightful presence, is a living legend. When he steps on stage, he brings with him a noteworthy chunk of the history of jazz over the past six decades, going back to the late 1940s, when he made his professional debut. Moody has performed with scores of influential artists including Miles Davis, and Dizzy Gillespie, in whose band he performed for years – and to whom I have heard him affectionately refer, while on stage, as “my father.”
Electrifying is the best description of my first experience hearing Moody in person. It was 1973, and Muse Records had recently released the album “Never Again” (a superb performance that has yet to see re-release on CD or as a digitally downloadable set). The supporting cast included Mickey Tucker (now living in Australia) on B3 organ and Eddie Gladden, drums – and the highlights of the six-track recording included up-tempo renditions of “Secret Love” and “St. Thomas.”
In the 1970s, it was still common for a group to be booked for a week at a time (or longer) at leading jazz clubs in major metropolitan areas. That’s exactly what we got when Moody, backed by Tucker, Gladden and Eddie Jefferson, turned up the bop, and flames shot out of his horn for three sets a night. The activity I’m talking about took place at the now long-gone Just Jazz club at 22nd and Arch Streets in Philadelphia. (I still have the recording I made with the then leading edge, pre-walkman, portable, mono cassette tape recorder I bought). A very up-tempo version of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” capped the final set on the night I attended.
As a student at the time, immersed in taking lessons, practicing my instruments, analyzing scores, learning arranging and composition, and writing for one of the leading jazz magazines, it was a magical experience to hear and see one of my heroes up close in a typically intimate club setting.
Besides having honed an identifiable style on his horns, Moody has also written a number of memorable compositions that have become staples in the jazz lexicon including “Last Train From Overbrook” and “Moody’s Mood For Love.” “Moody’s Mood” came to life out of an improvised solo Moody played in 1949 on the standard “I’m In The Mood For Love.” Moody’s solo had inspired vocalist Eddie Jefferson to write lyrics. Jefferson’s lyrics to Moody’s solo were popularized in 1951 when King Pleasure recorded it, including Moody, and it has remained a Moody staple ever since. Incidentally, you can get a taste of Moody’s sense of humor on his rendition of “Benny’s From Heaven” based on “Pennies From Heaven.”
One of the more notable performances by Moody that I had an opportunity to hear and photograph was his appearance with the Jon Faddis Big Band at the 50th Newport Jazz Festival in 2004. Donning a bright sky blue outfit and a backwards baseball cap, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand with his vocal performance on “Moody’s Mood” and his sax solos and other bebop chestnuts.
In more recent years, Moody, a creative octogenarian, has toured and recorded with the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Big Band, led his own quartet, and recently released new recordings “4A” and “4B” on the IPO Record label. A couple of earlier albums by Moody that include rich collections of his artistry are “Feelin’ It Together” (with Kenny Barron) and “Young At Heart. “
Not too long ago, I conducted a feature interview with him for Jazz Inside Magazine (soon to be published). The animated conversation ranged from serious discussions about UFOs and politics to his long-time employer, Dizzy Gillespie.
Make sure you catch up with James Moody, whose performances and presence on The Jazz Cruise 2011 this coming January are certain to produce toe-tapping, finger-snapping musical highlights and much more.
Eric Nemeyer is one of the true authorities on jazz in the country. He founded Jazz Improv Magazine (1997), Jazz Improv NY Magazine (2005), Jazz Inside Magazine and Jazz Inside NY (print, digital) to help industry participants market to the broadest demographic that populates the jazz landscape. Jazz Inside NY Magazine is available as a free download at www.jazzinsidemagazine.com.
Mr. Nemeyer also produced Jazz Improv LIVE! 2007 Convention in NYC, created 80 panels/workshops, booked the artists for all 100 performances, created the marketing materials, advertising and PR copy, managed direct mail campaigns, and participated in sales of sponsorships.
Additional accomplishments include having produced 40 jazz albums including projects for Bailey's Irish Cream, Vandoren and Conn-Selmer, and composing and arranging over 125 published arrangements for jazz ensemble, concert and marching bands.
Eric will be writing a monthly column in Jazz Cruises’ Notes, and we welcome his voice and insights.
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Sax legend David Sanborn released his second homage to the late Ray Charles, whom he cites as his biggest influence. The current single that will hit the radio charts this month from “Only Everything” is a collaboration between old friends: Sanborn and iconic singer-songwriter James Taylor doing a rendition of Charles’ “Hallelujah I Love Her So.” David said, “James told me that he performed it early in his career and sent me a simple demo of just voice and guitar. It was wonderfully relaxed, and I knew that’s the feel we had to keep in the studio. James kept the feel. He told the story—like he tells all his stories—with a warm naturalness that beats back the blues.” Look for David on the cover of the summer issue of Jazziz.
The music director for The Smooth Jazz Cruise, Brian Simpson, released a new album August 31. “South Beach” is the name of both the CD and the first radio single. Guests on the record include George Duke, Peter White and Euge Groove.
Speaking of Sir Duke, George released “Déjà Vu” last month, which recalls styles from earlier in his storied career. As he did back in the day, he played plenty of synthesizers on the new collection, including vintage analog synths and modern digital models. George had this to say about the first radio single, “A Melody”: “This tune allows me to visit the ‘Brazilian Love Affair’ vibe in a slightly different way. I had the opportunity to play an extended Voyager (mini moog) solo, which I haven’t done in a long time. I love this vibe and the vocals are definitely ‘A Melody.’”
The always busy Philippe Saisse just finished recording a track for the upcoming holiday album, “This Christmas,” from “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee. He’ll soon start producing and arranging Rick Braun’s next album of classic songs recorded with a full orchestra. In addition to playing his trademark flugelhorn, Rick will ... get this … sing. Cruisers probably know that Rick’s current top three single, “Christiane,” is named after his beautiful wife. Moviegoers may spot Philippe noodling the keys in the upcoming film “Lullaby for Pi” starring Academy Award-winning actor Forrest Whitaker.
The sartorial Nick Colionne partnered with prestigious men’s clothier Stacy Adams to establish the Nick Colionne/Stacy Adams Scholarship Fund, which will aid families struggling to come up with the tuition to keep their kids in the St. Laurence K-8 School located in a suburban Chicago blue collar area that was hit hard by the recession. Nick has been serving as a mentor at the highly rated school for 16 years, and the clothing designer’s commitment to funding the scholarship is for at least three years. Last month, the guitarist teamed with Jeff Golub, Eric Darius and Gerald Veasley to perform a show in Charlotte that was part of an initiative of the Urban League of the Carolinas called “Suit Up For Success.” Stacy Adams donated wardrobe items ranging from shoes, suits and hats to ensure that men working to change their lives looked sharp for interviews and their newly found jobs.
Rick Scott is president of Great Scott P.R.oductions, a music, entertainment and sports public relations, marketing and management boutique. For 16 years, he has represented some of the brightest stars in smooth jazz and is proud to work with The Smooth Jazz Cruise.
Rick will be writing a monthly column for Jazz Cruises’ Notes, and we are thrilled to be able to include his thoughts and knowledge of the smooth jazz world in our newsletter. Rick can be contacted through www.greatscottpr.com. Follow him at twitter.com/greatscottpr.
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