Celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month ’25
As promised in earlier editions of Jazz Notes, and in the recent edition of The Weekender, to commemorate JAM this year, Signature Cruise Experiences will dedicate the next few editions of Jazz Notes to various topics of interest related to jazz and to share how many of our cruise programs honor this very special music and the folks who make it so.
In today’s note, we will discuss more about the ways in which Journey of Jazz ’25 will be an amazing history of jazz lesson, when you will be able to hear The (Cruise) Lowdown from Christian McBride, a story about the making of The Jazz Cruise ’26, an update of The Smooth Jazz Cruises for ’26 and, finally, Lee Mergner’s thoughts to begin Jazz Appreciation Month.
Journey of Jazz ’25
Special History of Jazz Programming
Hosted by Marcus Miller and Gregory Porter, Journey of Jazz is our next jazz program. Sailing from Vancouver (9.12.25) to Los Angeles (9.19.25), with calls on the ports of Victoria and San Francisco, this program is the first West Coast program we have offered in a decade and one of the few cruise programs that has offered an extensive land-based excursion portfolio, including visits to Napa and Sonoma, a culinary tour of San Francisco available and special jazz shows in Victoria and at the world famous SFJAZZ theater (Ron Carter, Renee Rosnes, Jimmy Greene, Payton Crossley).
Our programming for the cruise will be robust. In addition to all the wonderful shows and events that we have presented for years, we are identifying a number of shows as History of Jazz Performances, shows and interviews with an emphasis on our jazz heritage, such as:
- Wycliffe Gordon’s Tribute to New Orleans
- Sons of Guns Interviews: Meet the Brubeck Brothers / Ravi Coltrane
- Music of Miles and Trane, featuring Russell Gunn and Tivon Pennicott
- Jazz on Film Series, hosted by Lee Mergner
- Gregory Porter’s Tribute to The Great American Songbook.
These are a sample of the shows (more like college courses) designed to entertain, enlighten and educate all of us about jazz. The best part is that there will be no tests! You have earned an “A” by being on the cruise!
Some Staterooms with balconies remain available and favorable pricing on Inside and Oceanview Staterooms is available (Promo Code JOURNEY).
Christian McBride’s World at Sea ’26
Join Christian for his First Ever “Cruise” Lowdown Live Broadcast!
Want to learn more about Christian McBride’s World at Sea cruise? Sign up now to join the first ever “Cruise” Lowdown Livestream with Christian McBride on Tuesday, April 29 at 3 PM ET for information about the cruise straight from the host!
Christian will preside over this livestream, share his thoughts, ideas and goals for this amazing cruise and talk about the first-class musicians who will be joining him. Guests will have the opportunity to send in questions and comments which will be answered in real time!
Learn why guests are calling this cruise the best of past programs such as North Sea Jazz Cruise, Playboy Jazz Cruise and Blue Note at Sea cruise. Christian McBride is the only bandleader we know whose ensembles make that boast.
When you add in the warmth, spirit and talents of Christian, you know that something special is about to happen. Join us for “The Cruise Lowdown” livestream on April 29!
The Jazz Cruise ’26
Creating a Lineup for “Straight Ahead” Jazz Heaven
The Jazz Cruise has gone from being the “first and only full ship charter in the world dedicated to straight ahead jazz” to being the only full-scale jazz program of this type, on land or at sea!
Its place in the world of jazz grows in stature every year. In part, due to its unique format, but mainly due to the amazing talent that The Jazz Cruise presents year after year. Only the best musicians are invited. Only the best musicians perform.
This level of exclusivity breeds a camaraderie among the players that is unprecedented. Each musician knows that they are playing with and for the top musicians in the world. Yes, they are each dedicated to making their performance wonderful for the guests, but the added incentive to show well (not “off”) for their fellow musicians is clearly in evidence.
Building that group of musicians, which often is nearly 100 strong, is the job of a small group of folks led by Cruise Host Emmet Cohen and Music Director Eric Marienthal, with input from Big Band Director John Clayton and Welcome Show Host Ken Peplowski.
Guests of The Jazz Cruise chime in as well. We define guests who are reluctant to offer their lineup choices as “new” guests! Trust me, we welcome your thoughts.
The building blocks of a lineup begins with the selection of 10 – 12 Performing Groups and acknowledgement of the key musicians who have become essential to The Jazz Cruise experience. From there we fill in the needs of the Big Band and add as many new faces as possible.
The goal is to blend the annual, with the familiar, and top it off with the new. Check out current lineup for The Jazz Cruise ’26 and you will be able to see how those three categories influenced the upcoming lineup.
The Smooth Jazz Cruise ‘26.1/’26.2/’26.3
It’s ‘26.3 or Waiting for ’27
It’s called “The Greatest Party at Sea,” which is bragging of course, but, as Will Rogers famously said, “It Ain’t Bragging If It’s True.”
The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.2 is fully reserved and The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.1 is within a few staterooms of the same result. And, with 17 months before it sails, The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.3 is nearly 80% reserved. Maybe The Smooth Jazz Cruise IS “The Greatest Party at Sea,” after all. The facts are the facts. Not much else to add here other than to encourage fans to make a reservation for The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.3, the first West Coast version of this iconic program in more than a decade.
Concerts of Jazz Appreciation Month
Although the aim of Jazz Appreciation Month is to increase awareness of the genre throughout the month, the real crux of the effort centers on International Jazz Day (IJD) which began in 2012, with an all-star concert held, appropriately enough, at the United Nations in New York City. Since then, the global jazz concert, in partnership with UNESCO, has been hosted on April 30 in cities all over the world – from Istanbul to Osaka to Paris to Havana and other cities. In 2016, President Obama, along with Herbie Hancock, hosted the event at the White House. All of the performances have been live streamed to a global audience.
The list of performers for that annual concert reflects the truly international nature of jazz with artists representing dozens of countries every year. So many of the artists who have been regular performers on our cruise programs have also been regular participants in the annual concert, including Marcus Miller, Gregory Porter, Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Melody Gardot, Christian McBride, Chucho Valdes, John Pizzarelli, Kenny Barron and many others.
The host city for the 2025 edition of the annual global jazz concert is Abu Dhabi and that anchor event will again by hosted by Herbie Hancock and will feature many artists familiar to our guests, including Marcus, Dee Dee, Kenny, John and Emmet Cohen. Another important component of IJD is the proliferation of special jazz concerts on that same day in just about every city in the world. On the IJD website you can see a map of the world with markers for many of the concerts being held on that day. We encourage you not only to watch the livestream of that global jazz concert on April 30, but also to go out and see live jazz wherever you may be and celebrate this music that we love.
Lee Mergner
Jazz Guru
Jazz Cruises Conversations Podcast
Dan Wilson with Christian McBride
The latest episode of the Jazz Cruises Conversations podcast features an interview with guitarist Dan Wilson by his friend and mentor, Christian McBride.
Taped during The Jazz Cruise for broadcast on the radio show “The Lowdown: Conversations with Christian” on SiriusXM’s Real Jazz channel, this LEARN session covers their joint history, as well as Dan’s early musical development, playing in church. In keeping with the format of Christian’s show, the two also play some improvised music together.
You can listen to this interview, as well as any of the 100 past episodes of Jazz Cruises Conversations on Spotify or iTunes or wherever you access your podcasts. Subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss any of the upcoming episodes.
Dan will be sailing with Christian on McBride’s World at Sea in 2026.
Signature Cruise Experiences’ Programs
Journey of Jazz ’25
Favorable Pricing on Inside and Oceanview
Staterooms with Promo Code JOURNEY
Homecoming: The Cruise
In Open Booking
McBride’s World at Sea
In Open Booking
The Jazz Cruise ’26
In Open Booking
The Smooth Jazz Cruise ‘26.1 – In Open Booking
The Smooth Jazz Cruise ‘26.2 – Fully Reserved
Top Shelf Country Cruise
Final Lineup and Itinerary Now Available
The Smooth Jazz Cruise ‘26.3
In Open Booking
Botti at Sea ’26
In Open Booking