The Jazz Cruise 2024

Celebrity Summit
The Jazz Cruise
Miami, Labadee, Puerto Plata, St. Thomas
January 18-25, 2024

Founded by Anita E. Berry in 2001, The Jazz Cruise has been offering patrons a yearly action-packed weeklong jazz experience at sea with some 100 world-class musicians in 200 hours of programming for over two decades (with a hiatus during the COVID pandemic). The ambience of the cruise encompasses house concert, nightclub theatre, urban bar, rooftop lounge, coffee house, dressing room and lunchroom, a fantastic mix.

At 10 a.m., one might (and did) sip latte while watching and discussing Elis e Tom, the documentary film about the famous collaboration between Antonio Carlos Jobim and Elis Regina (Roberto de Oliveira, Jom Tob Azulay, 2023), which resulted in the album Elis and Tom (Phillips, 1974).

Around breakfast time another day, guests settled in to hear Catherine Russell speak about her extraordinary family and view private videos of Louis Armstrong with her dad Luis Russell, a pianist who came from a musical family in Bocas del Toro, Panama and who, from 1935-1943, served as Armstrong's musical director in New York. Catherine Russell's comparably accomplished mother is multi-instrumentalist and singer Carline Ray (1925-2013), who got her break as a member of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm (rhythm guitar, voice, bass), after receiving her undergraduate degree in piano and composition from Juilliard and completing her masters in voice from Manhattan School of Music.

On a different morning Catherine Russell turned the tables, interviewing the esteemed Canadian pianist Renee Rosnes about her work with Artemis and with Ron Carter, her piano duo with Bill Charlap, her own groups, her composing, arranging and musical upbringing, including apprenticeships in the bands of James Moody, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, J.J. Johnson and others.

At 11 a.m., one might catch their first performance (choose the theatre or the lounge). At noon, it might be an interview with the great Chucho Valdes and Paquito D'Rivera, or a film, such as the beautifully captured '65 date in Denmark with Sonny Rollins, bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and drummer Alan Dawson (Jazz Icons, 2008). There would be concerts in the noon hour (browse and choose), CD signings after lunch, more shows mid-afternoon, interviews and singing before suppertime. Dinner was at 5, with shows every 15 minutes starting at 6:30, a comic at 10:15, more concerts after 10:30 and a final midnight set. So it went.

Three brief stops in the Caribbean (Labadee, Puerto Plata and St. Thomas) provided snorkeling and shopping opportunities, but musical offerings continued on the ship throughout and many (if not most) guests chose to remain onboard.

To "erstwhile denizens of the Apple," to use Dave Frishberg's phrase ("Do You Miss New York," first recorded on the Dave Frishberg Songbook Vol. 1, Omnisound, 1981), the cruise might feel a bit like spending a week in the jazz capital, where a buff might hear NEA Jazz Masters Billy Hart, Kenny Barron and D'Rivera performing in close proximity on a given night along with some of the many other big-name New York musicians on the Jazz Cruise roster. And yes, such a concentration of skill and talent might cause a hamlet dweller to pine for the big city.

Directors and Hosts

Christian McBride and Emmet Cohen co-hosted the festival, performing, interviewing and working with numerous performing groups, including Jazz House Kids All Stars, McBride's mentorship and performance program. One daily treat was The Lowdown, in which McBride interviewed and performed in impromptu fashion with artists on the ship's roster, from fellow bassist John Clayton to acclaimed vocalist Kurt Elling. The moment was always spontaneous and full of delightful surprises. Cohen, meanwhile, was seemingly everywhere at once, performing at the piano, hosting and reporting back in entertaining little missives via social media.

John Clayton serves as director and chief arranger for Anita's Big Band, named for the cruise founder. In front of the band, Clayton uses every inch of his tall stature as a dancer would, moving the music with his body in a most captivating fashion, bringing out nuances of all kinds. For those who may have heard but not seen him lead a big band, his conducting is a revelation, and this ensemble of pros was with him all the way.

Distinguished hosts for specific events included singer Russell, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, clarinetist and saxophonist Ken Peplowski, publisher and editor Lee Mergner and comedian Alonzo Bodden. Pianist Shelly Berg, Dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, has recently assumed the role of artistic director, a function he also performs for Miami's Jazz Roots series, while saxophonist Eric Marienthal serves as music director.

Performers, groups, styles, genres

Four NEA Jazz Masters were on board and steaming: the great pianist Kenny Barron, clarinetist and saxophonist D'Rivera, Hart and trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis. Barron, Russell and the late Lee Berk, of the Berklee School of Music were given special recognition as inductees into the floating festival's hall of fame.

Performing groups included a wealth of renowned headliners: Valdés and D'Rivera (separately and reunited as former members of the eminent Cuban jazz band Irakere), Anat Cohen & Quartetinho, Russell, Barron, Jazzmeia Horn, McBride & Inside Straight, Artemis (Rosnes, Ingrid Jensen, Noriko Ueda, Allison Miller, Nicole Glover), Elling, Eliane Elias, the Billy Hart Quartet, Emmet Cohen Trio, John Pizzarelli, Jeff Hamilton Trio, Bria Skonberg, Cyrille Aimée and Houston Person's Quartet. (Person himself became ill and had to cancel, unfortunately.)

The festival proclaims itself to be "straight-ahead jazz heaven," which might seem narrow vis-à-vis the dizzying diversity of today's scene, but there was room for aficionados of a particular sub-genre or style nexus to focus in and be satisfied. There were plenty of opportunities for enthusiasts of jazz singing to enjoy a range of styles within that idiom, including concerts and interviews in intimate and more formal settings with Horn, Elling, Russell, Skonberg and Aimee, along with their respective ensembles.

For admirers of specific instruments, there were cleverly named specialty shows featuring multiple bassists (Bass Camp, as they called it), trumpeters (Bump it With a Trumpet), singers (Sing, Sing, Sing) and pianists (Keyboard Capers), among others. Fans of the clarinet and Brazilian jazz were favored with a special show entitled Braziliant, led by Cohen, in which three clarinetists (she, D'Rivera and Peplowski) teamed up with Brazilian musicians Rafael Barata (drums) and Vitor Gonçalves (piano and accordion) to present a rollicking evening that ended with the soccer-based choro anthem, "Um a Zero" (Pixinguinha & Benedito Lacerda, Victor, 1946). On other nights, Cohen's exuberant and virtuosic Quartetinho performed programs of originals and classics centered on Brazilian repertoire, including an affecting rendition of "O Bôto" (Jobim & Jararaca, Urubu, Warner Bros, 1976), Antonio Carlos Jobim's ode to the pink river dolphin. Brazilophiles were also treated to multiple concerts with singer-pianist Elias and her group, featuring Barata on drums, with bassist Marc Johnson and guitarist Leandro Pellegrino.

In one unexpected pleasure among many, Elling, whose shows were particularly spellbinding, surprised a late-night audience by opening his set with a stunning rendering of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" (Freewheelin', Columbia, 1963). In the intimate Sky Lounge, a gorgeous setting, he addressed the audience, giving a nod to his sleepy headed young son, who had accompanied him on the ship and lay snuggled in a cushy chair at the back of the room. He prefaced the song with a salutary reminder of a troubled planet Earth that stands in contrast with the glorious fantasy world on this peaceful Caribbean cruise. It was remarkable moment, a reassurance that one needn't sell one's soul to have a successful career, to bring joy to one's fans and to create uncompromising art.

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