Jazz Cruises Conversations

This conversation was recorded during the most recent sailing of The Jazz Cruise and it featured an interview with two longtime friends and colleagues—Paquito D’Rivera and Chucho Valdes. Going back to their native land of Cuba, Paquito played in Irakere, a band founded in 1973 by Chucho who led that band for more than four decades. The two recently reunited for an album called I Missed You Too as well as for a tour with their sextet. The Jazz Cruise All-Star James Morrison handled the moderator duties in this very animated conversation filled with wit and wisdom.

This conversation was recorded on the inaugural sailing of Botti at Sea and it featured an interview with the great vocalist Gregory Porter by Lee Mergner, as part of the Jazz on Film series he hosted that week. This episode is about the legendary Nat King Cole. Most people know about Gregory’s professional affinity for Nat and his music, but may not know just how personal that affinity is. He explains his deep love for Nat and even sings a few tunes that make that connection clear.

In this conversation recorded on The Smooth Jazz Cruise 24.1, saxophonist Mindi Abair talks with cruise host Talaya from SiriusXM. . Mindi talked about collaborating with other artists on The Smooth Jazz Cruise. And about breaking into the music business when she first moved to LA where she was discovered by Bobby Lyle. She also reflects on partnering with guitarist Randy Jacobs in the band The Boneshakers. And of course she discusses her wine and jazz adventures.

In this one-on-one conversation from Botti at Sea earlier this year, Alonzo Bodden, our longtime comedian in residence, sat down with Keb' Mo' to talk about his storied career in music. And that career has truly been storied, starting with the fact that Keb' released his first album way back when, billed by his given name of Kevin Moore. Of course, that became grist for material for our friend Alonzo. Make no mistake, Keb' is a humble yet gifted guitarist, singer and songwriter. Someone who has earned every bit of his remarkable success. As is often the case, the audience got into the act at the end with informed questions and comments.

In this conversation from The Jazz Cruise '24, Catherine Russell interviewed pianist Renee Rosnes about her upbringing in Canada as a student of classical music who was introduced to jazz by an important mentor. Renee also reflected on working with jazz legends like Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson and James Moody. She also talked about her own music as a longtime bandleader and her very special collaborations with her husband, fellow pianist Bill Charlap. And, of course, about Artemis, the super group she founded that performed on the cruise.

In this interview from Blue Note at Sea '23, noted record producer Don Was spoke with the great percussionist and bandleader Sheila E. Sheila talked with Don about her unique musical relationship with her father Pete Escovedo and her brothers. She shared stories of working with legendary artists such as Ringo Starr, Marvin Gaye, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson and Prince. She also explained the mission for her Elevate Oakland community organization. And she told us about her practice regimen.

This episode features a very special interview with jazz icon Wynton Marsalis by his old friend Christian McBride from The Jazz Cruise earlier this year. The two have a long history going back to 1984 when Christian was a 14-year-old bassist in Philadelphia and Wynton took him under his wing. He even assured Christian’s mother that we would watch over Christian when he moved to NYC a few years later. Given their relationship and how they both became mentors to so many musicians across multiple generations, it should come as no surprise that the theme of their conversation here was about mentorship and inspiration. Wynton discussed his unique relationship with the late jazz writer and provocateur Stanley Crouch and with Betty Carter, as well as his connection to so many greats, not only in jazz, but in Black American culture, like Ralph Ellison, August Wilson and Albert Murray. Christian also gave Wynton a three-song Blindfold Test, featuring trumpeters. You can guess how that went. The two also played a couple of duets. But throughout their talk, it’s the stories about their elders that resonated.

This episode features an interview with keyboardist/trombonist/bandleader Brian Culbertson by Talaya from The Smooth Jazz Cruise in 2023. Brian talks about recording his first album in his apartment when he was in college at DePaul in Chicago. He also explained how he came to develop his streaming show The Hang and how he recorded numerous albums during the pandemic. Along the way, Brian shares his creative process for writing, arranging and producing.

In this conversation recorded during Blue Note at Sea '23, saxophonist David Sanborn talks with his old friend and colleague Marcus Miller about his storied life and career in music.

In this conversation from Blue Note at Sea '23, host Don Was interviews Christian McBride about his practice regimen for the bass, his early years growing up in Philadelphia, his love of James Brown and how he handles his many roles as a musician, composer, bandleader, radio host and educator.

This episode recorded on The Smooth Jazz Cruise features an interview with saxophonist Candy Dulfer by one of our hosts Talaya. Candy talked about her very musical upbringing in the Netherlands with her father Hans, a noted jazz saxophonist, as well as her own unique journey, crossing paths and collaborating with Dave Stewart, Prince and Van Morrison, and establishing herself as a solo artist.

This episode features a true 1:1 conversation between two old friends, comedian Alonzo Bodden and bassist/bandleader/composer Marcus Miller. Recorded on Blue Note at Sea '23, the two talked about music and comedy and everything in between.

In this conversation recorded during The Jazz Cruise '23, Shelly Berg interviewed vocal jazz sensation Samara Joy for his "Generation Next" show on SiriusXM's Real Jazz channel.

This week’s episode of the Jazz Cruises Conversations podcast features a very special interview by Marcus Miller with Michael McDonald, recorded on The Smooth Jazz Cruise earlier this year. Marcus talked with Michael about his long and storied career, which started out in St. Louis, playing and singing in local cover bands. The rest is history, which you’ll hear about in this engaging and entertaining talk. How about this little fact? Michael’s local young band backed Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry back in the day. And he explains the origin of the band name The Doobie Brothers. And Michael tells how he came to duet famously with Patti LaBelle on their smash hit “On My Own.” And now they’re doing a cruise together, the McDonald Labelle Cruise with us April 10-13 to Nassau in the Bahamas.

In this one-on-one conversation from Blue Note at Sea earlier this year, Christian McBride interviewed Chris Botti for an episode of his Sirius XM radio show “The Lowdown: Conversations with Christian.” Chris talked about the rewards and challenges of his long-running residency at the Blue Note in New York City. The two also talked about Chris’ beginnings in Portland, Oregon, as well as the impact of the music program at the University of Indiana. Chris explained why the trumpet is such a difficult instrument to master. He talked about the impact of working with Paul Simon and Sting. And he even told a Frank Sinatra story. Finally, Christian gave Chris a little Blindfold Test with three trumpeters.

In this episode of the newly renamed Jazz Cruises Conversations podcast, pianists Renee Rosnes and Billy Childs talked with host LeRoy Downs about their common history and inspirations.

This conversation from Blue Note at Sea '23 featured the acclaimed singer and songwriter Cecile McLorin Salvant, who was interviewed by David SanbornThe two talked about Cecile’s passion and gift for the visual arts, and they dug very deep on her recent album Ghost Song, which he clearly listened to a lot. And they got into Cecile’s multi-genre project Ogress and her latest album Melusine. Throughout it all, Cecile candidly deconstructs her unique creative process.

Sullivan Fortner sits down with fellow pianist Emmet Cohen to talk about coming from New Orleans to New York City and his emergence on the jazz scene. Sullivan and Emmet talk about the various piano competitions they entered together. Sullivan also discusses his musical relationship with vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant. And he shows Emmet some of his practice regimen on the piano.

In this episode from our live conversation series on Facebook and YouTube, the noted pianist Monty Alexander talks with bassist and former bandmate John Clayton about his storied life in music. It’s a reunion of sorts because back in the mid-70s, Monty led a trio with John and drummer Jeff Hamilton. The three road warriors performed about 300 days a year and recording two albums including the seminal "Montreux Alexander ’76." Monty reminisces about growing up in Jamaica and learning from people like Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson. We also surprised Monty with a special guest who dropped into the conversation for the last 15 minutes. This episode was sponsored by Vail Jazz.

In this Before & After listening session, co-presented on Zoom with JazzTimes, Ken Peplowski plays a dozen tunes for his friend and colleague John Clayton, who shows off his very acute ears. Besides going deep on the cuts, the two talk about a wide range of topics, including the nuance of the beat, the dangers of the metronome, and why fake books hurt rather than help young musicians.