Jazz Notes: 3.11.26

We are Back!

It has been a while since the last edition of Jazz Notes! Our excuse is quite simple. We have been sailing and presenting music from January 12 – February 17, 2026, and then from February 27 – March 6, 2026, a total of 40 days at sea. During that time, we produced David Foster: The Hitman Cruise, Christian McBride’s World at Sea, The Jazz Cruise, The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.1 and The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.2. That is a lot of jazz…and a nice amount of Broadway and Adult Contemporary music as well.

Additionally, the last week was the inaugural sailing of Top Shelf Country Cruise, our country music program presented in connected with iHeart Media. As I shared in The Weekender, we had a great time on this program and are moving forward with additional country music programming.

If you are concerned that this means we are reducing our connection to jazz, do not worry! An entirely different genre and audience has us staffing up with our own country music insiders and staff doing the development and curation of the country music cruises. If anything, we will be expanding our jazz profile with more programs that provide extraordinary jazz experiences

The world of country music, at least what I have experienced thus far, is fun. The people are very nice, unpretentious for the most part and as dedicated to their music as our jazz musicians are to theirs. Our music is as foreign to those fans as their music is to us.

Country music fans are different from jazz fans as well in terms of how they like to have their music presented. Country music fans rejoice in sharing the experiences in large groups, a true community of enjoyment, whereas jazz is more personal and, though, there is a shared experience element when heard live, the impact of the music is more private.

Yet both camps find happiness and excitement in music. Works for me. I admire the country music world very much, but, at my age, and given my life in music, it is unlikely that you will see me in boots or wearing a cowboy hat. Those who do know what they are doing and how to look good while doing it.

I cannot recall ever noticing what a jazz musician wears on the bandstand. That is where I need to remain.

Michael Lazaroff
Executive Director
Signature Cruise Experiences

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Viva Cuban Jazz

Jazz by Cuban musicians has always had a place in SCE programs, starting with three artists who played in one of that country’s greatest bands, Irakere. The group was founded in 1973 and led by pianist Chucho Valdés, with a horn section that featured trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and saxophonist/clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera. Irakere’s members originally came from Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, a state-sponsored group that eventually disbanded. Irakere’s music combined modern jazz with Cuban dance music. The group was championed by Dizzy Gillespie, who was passionate about Afro-Cuban music, and was brought to the U.S. and the world largely through the efforts of Bruce Lundvall, a record exec then with CBS.

Eventually both Arturo and Paquito would defect from Cuba in the ’80s and establish their own solo careers in the U.S. Chucho remained in Cuba and continued to lead Irakere and perform all over the world (except the U.S.), but he likewise developed a career on his own. All three have sailed on our cruises many times and they have all been inducted into The Jazz Cruise Hall of Fame.

Now, the tradition of Cuban jazz musicians on our programs continues with a younger generation of dynamic artists who are sailing on three of our upcoming cruises.

Harold Lopez-Nussa (Botti at Sea III, Journey of Jazz)

Like many Cuban jazz artists, the pianist Harold Lopez-Nussa comes from a musical family. His father, Ruy López-Nussa Lekszycki, is a noted drummer, his mother, Mayra Torres, was a piano teacher and his uncle is the acclaimed pianist and composer Ernán López-Nussa. Harold’s own sound is a mix of Afro-Cuban and modern jazz that showcases both his keyboard virtuosity and his powerful sense of rhythm. For the last two decades, he has performed at clubs, theaters and festivals all over the world.

Harold released his first album, Canciones, in 2007 and would go on to record 10 more albums as a leader, including several for the World Village label and three for Mack Avenue. In 2022, Harold was signed to Blue Note Records, the home of not only his jazz piano heroes like Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock, but also Cuban piano greats including Chucho Valdés and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Due to the embargo, however, he couldn’t accept a deal if he remained in Cuba, so he emigrated with his family to France, where his grandmother was born. His most recent album, Timba a la Americana, is inspired by that dramatic transition in this life.

Performing with Harold on Botti at Sea III and Journey of Jazz are his brother Ruy Adrian López-Nussa on drums, Luques Curtis on bass and harmonica virtuoso Grégoire Maret.

Alfredo Rodriguez (The Jazz Cruise)

The pianist Alfredo Rodriguez was also born into a musical family; his father was a popular singer and TV host. Like Lopez-Nussa, he was a child prodigy. He studied classical piano at the prestigious Conservatorio Amadeo Roldán and Instituto Superior de Arte while playing popular music in his father’s orchestra by night. While performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2006, he was discovered by his future mentor and producer, the legendary Quincy Jones. However, it was several years before Alfredo could emigrate to the U.S. and record albums under the guidance of Jones.

Alfredo released his debut album Sounds of Space, co-produced by Jones, on the Mack Avenue label in 2012. That was followed in the ensuing years by six more recordings, including 2019’s Duologue with the percussionist Pedrito Martinez. Despite their shared Cuban roots, Rodriguez and Martinez didn’t cross paths until both had moved to the States. The pianist caught a set by Martinez’s group at a jazz festival and instantly knew he wanted to work with the percussionist.

“There are times when you feel something and know that you want to collaborate with someone,” Rodriguez explains. “That was one of those occasions.”

The two will be making their debut performing together on The Jazz Cruise ’27. 

Pedrito Martinez (The Jazz Cruise)

The percussionist and vocalist Pedrito Martinez had a very different upbringing and musical training, having honed his craft on the streets of Havana, where he learned the deeply rooted percussion and vocal style of Afro-Cuban folkloric and religious music. Shortly after arriving in the U.S. in 1998, Pedrito won the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Afro-Latin Hand Drum Competition. He also appeared in the documentary film, Calle 54. He then co-founded a Latin fusion group, Yerba Buena, with whom he toured extensively and recorded several successful albums.

In his new home of NYC, Pedrito and his group had a four-night a week residency at Guantanamera, a restaurant in midtown Manhattan, where they became the talk of the town, with plenty of bold-faced names visiting and even sitting in with the group. Over the years, the in-demand percussionist has performed or recorded with Wynton Marsalis, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Angélique Kidjo, Chucho Valdés and James Taylor. 

“What makes this duo completely different is that I came from the folkloric side and Alfredo came from the classical side,” Martinez says. “You put those things together and you come out with an extraordinary and different sound. Alfredo has brilliant ideas when he’s composing and putting together melodies and it was so easy to mix and absorb his ideas and vice versa.”

Lee Mergner
Jazz Consultant
Signature Cruise Experiences

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Signature Cruise Experiences Upcoming Programs

It has been a while since we outlined and discussed our upcoming programs in detail. As you will see, many of the programs have important updates or changes in the itineraries, lineups and stateroom availability. Our goal here is to provide a comprehensive outline of all sailings remaining in ’26, as well as the full lineup of sailings for ’27.

SCE Sailings in ’26

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SCE Sailings in ’27

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