Ken Franckling, photographer/blogger extraordinaire, has won multiple JJA Jazz Awards and last year, also, the lottery drawing for a Jazz Cruise cabin from Jazz Awards sponsor Entertainment Cruise Productions. Some excerpts from his recounting, to be read in full and with many more photos at his blog:
“The Jazz Cruise was a seven-day floating music marathon,” Franckling reports. The ship M/S Celebrity Summit sailed out from Ft. Lauderdale on February 3, stopped for a day in New Orleans, and returned to port February 10. Some 2000 cruisers were entertained by approximately 100 performers. “Most days, the music ping-ponged through as many as six large and more intimate venues, and stretched from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. It is not for the musically faint of heart.
“Every featured band performed at least four times during the week, and individual band members also were showcased in a dozen different all-star groupings. The featured all-star big band, most often directed by bassist-arranger John Clayton, consisted of musicians who each are bandleaders in their own right. Stylistically, mainstream swing and bebop were the norm, with the music stretching to include the Brazilian fare of Trio Da Paz and the edgy hard bop of The Cookers.”
“The musicians aboard The Jazz Cruise love the fact that they get to perform in one venue for a full week, with no racing to airports between disparate concerts.”
More details on the artists and Cruise and many more images here.
