Jam Cruise — First Impressions

Jam Cruise — First Impressions

[Thanks as always to the amazing Jam Cruise photographers! Many already posted, and thousands more to come!]

Music reviews are like… opinions. Everybody’s got one… or many. There were 84 sets on Jam Cruise 21 (just got into port this morning). I caught all or part of 49 of them. YMMV, and probably will!

I LOVE “discovering” bands I’ve never heard of before or only heard of or only seen once. By far, the winners in these categories are:

Never heard of: The Psycodelics from Charleston. Deepest funk band I’ve ever seen on board. It didn’t hurt that Miss Kanika Moore sang with them. Both sets.

Never seen before: Club D’Elf featuring Will Bernard. Completely blown out by the depth and breadth of their two sets.

Seen once: Mildlife (Australia). Nearly indescribable trance jazz funk rock. Both sets.

More magnificent events:

Masters At Sea Camp Masters concert. I only caught the last two songs — stunning brilliance. First, “Unfunky UFO” (Parliament) and then (not a dry eye in the house) Stevie Wonder’s “Always,” with Melody Trucks leading a 40-person participant choir for those powerful choruses and Nigel Hall channeling Stevie.

BERTHA (Grateful Drag). Forget the drag part, just for a moment. One of the best Dead tribute bands, period. And they were FABULOUS.

MarchFourth. Welcome back to the Southeast (it’s been a decade.) Stunning power, precision, and sheer joy!

Lettuce night one in the theater. Nigel Hall was COMPLETELY in the zone. When they launched into “The Payback” second song, you knew we were witnessing genius from everyone.

The Sweet Lillies set in the Atrium. This was a microcosm of the entire Jam Cruise experience. Julie Gussaroff (bass) and Becca Bisque (fiddle) and the boys were joined by (sorry, missing names here) drummer, female vocalist, Joe Marcinek (guitar), another female fiddler, and two alto saxes. Sammi Garett ran off the main stage (after crushing “Slippery People” with Summer Zen and Shira) and helped belt the response to “Bust a Move” after Becca astonished with her hip hop abilities (astonished me, anyway). Then who should come up but THE Chali 2na (who had a brilliant jam talk earlier). Becca took the lead in romping through several Jurassic 5 tunes with 2na (and “Baby Got Back” in between). That was followed by George Porter Jr. and Steve Kimock with The Sweet Lillies.

And, in another universe altogether, Nate Edgar, Nick Cassarino, and Miss Nikki Glaspie — and a couple of friends — presented their Earth, Wind, and Power set. Nearly two glorious hours with six horns, four keyboard players, two more guitars, and at least half a dozen magnificent voices. Thank you, Nth Power, for showing us what is possible. That was next-cosmos stuff.

Review out when I’ve glued myself back together.

Very honorable mentions: Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Eric Benny Bloom, Polyrhythmics, Skerik, and Snarky Puppy