Our Take: July 4th Edition

Happy 250th Birthday America! I doubt that there is a standard gift for someone’s 250th birthday. I know a couple of trees that old, but when I asked them what kind of gift they would want, all they did was bark!

I would understand fully if you stopped reading now. You may recall that Signature Cruise Experiences is still on vacation until Monday. It did not take long for my brain to turn to mush which accounts, in large measure, for the horrific joke in the opening paragraph. No more tree jokes. Turning over a new leaf, getting to the root of the problem and eliminating shady references.

I imagine that each of you have a July 4th celebration planned. For those with astonishing memories and little else to do, you may recall that July 4th is my second favorite holiday. Thanksgiving beats it may a slim margin.

Their attributes are largely the same. One day holidays. No “eves” to navigate. No question what foods are served and how they are served. Norman Rockwell has forever “carved” in our minds what a Thanksgiving dinner should look like. There does not seem to be a seminal depiction of a July 4th meal, but some assortment of hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, slaw, watermelon and ice cream will do fine.

Thanksgiving libations are usually centered around wines, where July 4th calls for a huge tub of ice filled with beer and soda (that would be “pop” for New Englanders and denizens of Chicago). Lemonade and iced tea are also acceptable.

By now, you may be saying “I thought this was a jazz blog and that Our Take was a forum for expressing thoughts about jazz.” Normally, that is correct, but this is July 4th, the 250th Birthday of America. We should focus on that, right?

Now, I did Google “July 4th and Jazz.” There were some celebrations mentioned that featured jazz and there was an article about an injury to New York Yankee infielder Jazz Chisolm. Not a lot of joy there.

But I did locate a fabulous YouTube video, The Hang with Brian Culbertson – July 4th Poolside – July 5, 2024 – YouTube. BC’s 71-minute poolside July 4th hang is fabulous. It is a July 4th/BC Style celebration and songfest. I urge you to take a peek at the video and enjoy.

Part of me wants to comment on the meaning of today and what it means to be an American right now. I am refraining from doing so, not because of the fear of creating controversy or starting a debate, but because I believe that each of us has the right to have our own opinions and sense of the issue. The guardrails are our laws. As long as you are operating within those boundaries, it is up to you what being an American means.

Some believe that there was once a shared vision. Some would point to World War II as the apex. Yet the status of women and minorities at that time belies the notion that we were all on the same page. In the end, we do not have to believe in the same things, but we do have to accept the notion that others are entitled to their own beliefs.

These words of former Senator Patrick Moynihan are important to me:
 

“You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.”

There was a time when applying this test was easy. Not so much anymore. Facts seem to be elusive and malleable.

So, on the 250th Birthday of America, perhaps we can agree on a few facts:

• Music is critical to the health and wellbeing of society.
• Though all music is precious, live music is the best.
• We should continue to do whatever it takes to teach music to our children and to the world.
  

The only other universal facts that I know are that smoking and mayonnaise are bad for you. Can we all agree?

By Michael Lazaroff, Executive Director of The Jazz Cruise, The Smooth Jazz Cruise, Chris Botti at Sea, Journey of Jazz, David Foster: The Hitman Cruise and Top Shelf Country Cruise. Feel free to express your views or pose questions to him at michael@scecruises.com.

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All About Signature Cruise Experiences

If you missed this week’s All About Signature Cruise Experiences livestream, or just want to catch all the fun again, this livestream is now available for you to view on-demand! 

For more than 25 years, Signature Cruise Experiences has been creating extraordinary journeys that bring together legendary artists, passionate fans and incredible destinations. During this livestream, we show what sets our cruises apart — from world-class performances by industry icons and intimate artist interactions you won’t find anywhere else, to exceptional service, immersive programming and unforgettable ports of call.

Watch our livestream on-demand to get an insider’s look at our collection of themed cruises, hear stories from the Signature community and enjoy a special surprise appearance from one of our talented artists!

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Catherine Russell’s Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Catherine Russell, one of our hosts of The Jazz Cruise, has released Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center, an album recorded live in 2024 at the Appel Room in NYC.

The concert featured a program Catherine curated in honor of the Hot Club of New York, a community of enthusiasts who gather weekly to listen to vintage jazz and blues 78s. Backed by a septet playing in a more traditional jazz style, Catherine sings some lesser known gems originally recorded by Hot Lips Page, Blanche Callaway, Cab Callaway, Helen Humes, Eddie Barefield, her father Luis Russell and others.

“Every meeting that I go to, I come out with something that either I have never heard the tune or I’ve never heard of the artist,” she explains. “Then I can go and research these artists further and see what else is in their catalog that I might be able to do. Because I figure why not do other things that people have never heard of or they haven’t heard in 100 years or something like that.”

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Paul Kahn’s Willingness

In turn, Catherine has produced an EP by her husband and manager Paul Kahn, Willingness, featuring songs he’s written over the years.

Paul has a long history as both a roots music performer and booking agent and the material mixes a wide range of styles from that background, including reggae, folk, blues, pop and more.

“Paul had written a whole bunch of songs, during a very fertile period of songwriting,” Catherine says. “And the songs kind of sat there. Recently he found them in a storage unit, and he brought them home and played them. I said, ‘Wait a second, these are good songs.’ And we got the idea to record some of them.”

The two enlisted guitarist Matt Munisteri and bassist Russell Hall from Catherine’s band, as well as four other noted musicians. Catherine herself sang and played mandolin on the recording.

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