This year, SmoothViews had the opportunity to join the 2012 Smooth Jazz Cruise, A/K/A, “The Greatest Party at Sea,” and we were very excited.  What could be better than a whole week at sea surrounded by fellow smooth jazz lovers, visiting wonderful Caribbean ports of call, and listening to great music performed by some of the best musicians in the business?

Let’s talk about “The Greatest Party at Sea” which took place on Holland America Line’s Westerdam.  This is more than just a vessel, this is a floating hotel.  The first thing that stood out for us was the attention to detail; the little touches that made a difference.  For example, a daily newsletter awaited us in our cabin upon arrival and every evening, which showed the next day’s schedule of events, and port, or day of cruising.  The schedule portion of the newsletter was perforated so people could fold it up and take it with them.  You could always access that info without having to take the whole newsletter with you.  Also, one of the nightly gifts we received was a poster to be autographed, but we were given the silver sharpie as well.  Cruisers were also given a color spiral bound book which contained a welcome message from Michael Lazaroff, Executive Director of Entertainment Cruise Productions, the week’s schedule, a line-up of the artists and musicians, a listing and acknowledgement of Entertainment Cruise Productions staff, the production team, information on the hospitality desk, and several blank pages of paper.  The attention to detail made a big difference. 

The next thing we found noteworthy was the organization and timeliness of events.   For the most part, concerts and events happened on time.  Cruisers were not kept waiting for everyone to get their acts together, because the acts were together.  Everything was run in a timely manner without being regimented.  Finally, before the first concert began, Michael Lazaroff welcomed everyone, both returning cruisers and newbies, to the cruise. And before the last concert began, he thanked us all for coming and welcomed all of us into the Smooth Jazz Cruise family. Everything was top notch and done well.

The schedule was so jammed packed that It was impossible to go to every concert and event.  If you are someone who likes to have something to do all of the time, you were covered... well into the night!  If you are someone who likes to take a break, relax by the pool or on your stateroom verandah, or turn in early, you were welcomed to do just that.  You could set your own pace.

Now, let’s talk about the music.  It was a packed line-up, which included David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Jonathan Butler, Gerald Albright, Candy Dulfer, Boney James, Larry Braggs, Rick Braun, Brian Culbertson, Eric Darius, DW3, Jeff Golub, Euge Groove, Rahsaan Patterson, Patrice Rushen, Joe Sample, Brian Simpson, Kirk Whalum, Peter White, comedian Alonzo Bodden, MC Dane Butcher, and event host Pat Prescott. While we could not attend every show, we attended as many as we could.  Each night there were two one-hour concerts, back-to-back.  On our first night, our first show was Rick Braun and Jonathan Butler in the main concert venue. 

Day 2 – Nassau, Bahamas.  While some people were battling cases of seasickness, including a few of the musicians, the shows continued.  After returning from a trek around the town of Nassau, we saw “A Collaboration of Keys” hosted by Marcus Miller and featuring Chance Howard, Brian Simpson, Brian Culbertson, and Joe Sample.  It was so interesting to see Brian Culbertson on drums and then that same drum kit taken over by Marcus Miller.  We soon came to learn that there are very few instruments Marcus doesn’t play!  The evening concerts were Joe Sample and David Sanborn - two icons in the smooth/contemporary jazz world - with the most amazing band that included Andre Berry AND Marcus Miller engaging in a dueling bass face-off!  From the very first song, Sample, Sanborn, and the band just went for it.  There were no holds barred by anyone onstage. 

Day 3 – At Sea.  We started the day off with Jonathan Butler's Gospel Show - a crowd favorite.  He was joined on stage by Tom Braxton, Ellis Hall, Marcus Miller, Candy Dulfer, Rick Braun, Euge Groove, Kirk Whalun, and his daughters, Jodie and Randy. Later that afternoon we sat in on "Guitars Get Together" with Jeff Golub, Jonathan Butler, Peter White, and Marcus Miller.  It was great to hear things about each artist that we may not have already known, such as who their influences were when they started out.  The evening concerts were Candy Dulfer and Brian Culbertson.

Candy puts the funk into everything she does.  Her show was high energy sax combined with vocals.  Her backup band included more top notch musicians:  Chance Howard, Oscar Seaton, Ramon Yslas, Ron Reinhart, Matt Rhode, Andre Berry, Randy Jacobs, Tom Braxton, and Patches Stewart.  Whew!  And what better way to cap off the evening with yet another high energy show with Brian Culbertson.  Brian gives the people exactly what they want – an energy infused show full of dramatics.  That’s why people flock to Brian’s shows.  Brian brought out Eric Darius to play alongside him.  Eric’s energy level matches Brian’s and always means a great show.

Day 4 – St. Thomas, USVI – This was the Artist Choice concert, where each headlining artist got to choose one song that meant something to them in their lives.  It didn’t even have to be one of their songs.  Rick Braun chose to do the Bill Withers hit “Use Me,” that he made his own years ago.  What made this special was the incredible horn section that backed him that night: Brian Culbertson on trombone, Boney James, Euge Groove and Tom Braxton on saxophone, and Patches Stewart on trumpet. 

Another special moment during this show was watching Eric Darius perform.  He is such a talented and energetic performer, and that was not lost on David Sanborn.  He watched Eric’s entire performance from the wings, and when it ended, and the crowd rose to their feet to give Eric the standing ovation he deserved, Sanborn came onstage and gave him a big hug.  It was a great moment to see. 

There were several standing ovations that night, including Brian Culbertson and Eric Darius on BC’s “Our Love,” Joe Sample and Marcus Miller for Sample’s “Hippies on the Corner.”  It was a night of absolutely incredible bands with musicians seamlessly rotating in and out throughout the night.  We really enjoyed the concept of the Artist Choice concert.  It gave us a lot of good music without being too taxing on any one musician, with the exception of percussionist Ramon Islas, (dubbed by all as the hardest working musician onboard) who began playing that night from the first show at 6:30pm until the last show ended around midnight.

Day 5 – St. Barth’s, FWI – After spending a few hours on the exclusive (by exclusive, we mean expensive) island of St. Barth’s, we were ready for that night’s show -  Peter White and Kirk Whalum.  Peter put on a great show, and even played some music from his soon to be released new album Here We Go.  Boney James, Kirk Whalum, and Tom Braxton made guest appearances during Peter’s set.  Talking to Peter White the next day, he said that the song Boney came out to play with him during his show was a song they recorded together nearly 18 years ago, and had not played it together since.  He was amazed that after all that time, Boney still remembered almost every nuance of how to play the song when they were in rehearsals.

Kirk has a just released new album, Romance Language, and he played music from it, as well as his past hits, many of them fan favorites.  He also told us about a Bluetooth speaker JAMBOX by Jawbone, and held a raffle to win a free one.

The late show was David Sanborn’s Night Music, based on the TV show of the same name he hosted back in the late 80s.  This show featured Sanborn, Joe Sample, and Marcus Miller, but most of the headliners made appearances during this set.  At one point, there were eight sax players on stage. The songs were not really rehearsed; this was mostly improvisation on their part.  This says a lot about the talent, not just from the headliners, but from the bands as well.

Day 6 – At sea – We headed up to the Crow’s Nest (the very top deck at the bow of the ship) for “A History of Jazz with Joe Sample, hosted by Pat Prescott.  It was a fascinating hour listening to Joe’s recollections of his experiences. The evening’s featured concert was Euge Groove and Boney James.  Boney has got to be one of the coolest musicians on the scene, and he put on a fabulous show. It’s always great to hear Boney play.  He also played many of the audience favorites as well as material from his latest, Contact.  Euge, who also has a great album out, Seven Large, gave a couple of CD’s away to the people in the audience who danced the best.  The only rule in the contest was to keep your clothes on.  Usually, it’s only women who enter and win Euge’s dance contest, but this time both a woman and a man won. 

Day 7 – Half Moon Cay, Bahamas – We took in a couple of the seminars being offered on this cruise.  It’s a Drummers World featured the drummers (and percussionist) who spent the week holding it down for the headliners: Third Richardson, Oscar Seaton, Jay Williams, Charles Streeter and Ramon Yslas.  It was interesting to hear how they got started and hearing their perspectives on various gigs they’ve played.  One thing they mentioned that we took note of was the importance of having a good audience to play to.  This is not a problem in our world because smooth jazz fans really value the music.  We’re always ready to show our appreciation to talented musicians.    We also caught the end of Let’s Talk About Sax, featuring Gerald Albright, Eric Darius, Euge Groove, Boney James, Candy Dulfer, David Sanborn, and Kirk Whalum.  Every sax player on stage mentioned how David Sanborn had been a huge influence on their careers. 

The final concert night featured Gerald Albright and Marcus Miller.  Both performers were excellent and put on fantastic shows.  There is much love for Gerald Albright in the smooth jazz community; he’s talented and respected, both by musicians and fans alike.  Selina Albright, a wonderful vocalist in her own right, joined her dad on stage for a song or two.  Every song Gerald played was met by enthusiastic applause.

They truly saved the best concert for last.  Marcus Miller took us through his musical life from when he grew up in Jamaica, Queens (NYC), through high school at Music & Art HS in Harlem, through his first professional gigs at age 18-19, and through most of the 80s.  (He tried to take us through to present day but there wasn’t enough time.)  Marcus played many of the songs he wrote for other musicians, including Miles Davis and Luther Vandross.  When we do our On the Side feature, one of the questions we ask the musicians is who they would love to play with.  Without a doubt, the top answer is Miles Davis.  Marcus Miller is one of the few musicians who can say that they’ve done that.  We’ve seen other shows where musicians will chronicle their lives and tell stories, but it oftentimes seems like they’re just bragging and name dropping, and results in a boring show.  This was not the case with Marcus Miller.  What you see is what you get.  Yes, he’s extremely talented and he has worked with, played, written and/or produced for some of the biggest names in music industry, but that’s his life, and that’s the way it is; straight up and without question.

We would be amiss if we did not mention the three bands that backed every musician playing aboard the ship during the week: Andre Berry, Brandon Coleman, Randy Jacobs, Gerey Johnson, Nathanial Kearney Jr., Nate Phillips, Ron Reinhardt, Matt Rhode, Third Richardson, Oscar Seaton, Dwight Sills, Patches Stewart, Jay Williams, and Ramon Yslas.  The amount of material they had to learn was staggering.  We have brought you the stories of many of these talented musicians in our On the Side feature, and we look forward to bringing you some more.  And pulling all of that together as musical director was the very talented Brian Simpson.

So, in between the beautiful ports of call, the amazing concerts, the delicious food, the cocktails, the dancing on deck to the music of DW3, and in the Crows Nest Lounge with DJ Jazzy Jeff, splitting our sides laughing with Alonzo Boden, and taking in the seminars, there was very little time to sleep, so our respective employers will forgive us if we need a vacation to recover from our vacation.

One final thought on the 2012 Smooth Jazz Cruise; there was a big sense of community and camaraderie on this ship.  Everyone was so friendly. Over half of the people onboard have sailed on these cruises before, and will sail again in 2013 and beyond.  We met and saw people there from every state in the union and many countries around the globe: Mozambique, Ghana, Brazil, Canada, Germany, and New Zealand, to name a few.  This is reflective of the smooth jazz community as a whole.  It reminded me of a line from an old movie I once saw where one of the characters tells another, “We’re not strangers.  We’re just friends who haven’t met yet.” That sums up the smooth jazz community. It was a wonderful week, one that we will never forget, filled with old friends, new friends, wonderful places, and above all else, great music.