MUG SHOTS
August 10, 2024
OUR TAKE: Celebrating Jazz
We are spending a lot of time preparing for the 25th Anniversary of The Jazz Cruise celebration. The lineup of musicians is set. With fewer than 30 staterooms available to…
August 3, 2024
OUR TAKE: Reviving Our Jazz Traditions
A few months ago, I was bemoaning the “loss” of two important and meaningful jazz traditions in events and relationships in my world of jazz. The Vail Jazz Organization announced…
July 27, 2024
OUR TAKE: Commander Kirk – Going Where We Have Gone Before
In a recent interview, Kirk Whalum bemoaned the fact that too often the music played under the “smooth jazz” umbrella suffers from a lack of individualism as compositions are dictated…
July 20, 2024
OUR TAKE: Dianne, Diana & Dee Dee
Who is the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) of female jazz vocalists? Among those who have passed, the short list of candidates would include Billie Holliday, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan…
July 13, 2024
Our Take: Back in the States
Going to London and Wimbledon has always been one of the bucket list items of my life. I am a tennis fan, an avid (not talented) player and I can…
July 6, 2024
OUR TAKE: Odds and Ends
We are just past the midway point of both the summer and the year. Both seem to have gone by very quickly. Perhaps that is a function of being older,…
June 29, 2024
OUR TAKE: Jazz vs. Heat
To most people, this title would foreshadow a discussion of two rivals in the National Basketball Association. Though the name Miami Heat makes a lot of sense, Utah Jazz may…
June 22, 2024
OUR TAKE: Flipping the Script
For the past few years, Jazz Cruises has declared a few days around July 4th to be our Midsummer Holiday. Usually, that is a slower time of year, but the…
June 17, 2024
OUR TAKE: The Circle of Jazz
What goes around, comes around. I was never certain what that old saying meant. Mostly used to forewarn, the idea is that if you do bad things to someone, then…
June 8, 2024
OUR TAKE: Let’s Talk Vocals
Recently, I checked out the lineup for our very first cruise as Jazz Cruises, The Jazz Cruise 2001. Dee Dee Bridgewater was the headliner vocalist for this landmark event, which infamously…