Jam Cruise 17 will take place from January 15th to 21st in 2019, returning to the Norwegian Jade for stops in Belize City, Belize, and Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico. This year, the beloved multi-day music cruise made serious waves in the jam community with its announcement that it would be expanding to six days and three port stops. With anticipation at an all-time high, today, Jam Cruise has announced its special sets for the upcoming 2019 edition.
For Jam Cruise’s renowned Jam Room, the late-night all-star improvisational sessions, the 2019 hosts will be long-standing Jam Room staple and Meter bassist George Porter Jr., New Orleans trombonist and bandleader Big Sam, Motet drummer and bandleader Dave Watts, Los Angeles soul singer Kelly Finnigan, TAUK drummer Isaac Teel, and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe trumpeter Chris Littlefield.
In the atrium, Ivan Neville, Melvin Seals, Zach Gill, Rob Marscher, and Chris Spies will all host intimate, stripped-down sets. As for the Jazz Lounge, special performances will be hosted by Alan Evan, Erica Falls, and Erik Deutsch. Notably, Jam Cruise will also be introducing a new lounge this year dubbed the “Pickin’ Lounge,” where bluegrass-oriented jam sessions will be hosted by Leftover Salmon‘s Vince Herman and Fruition‘s Mimi Naja.
Finally, Jam Cruise also announced a number of other special sets scheduled for across the six-day cruise. These sets include a tribute to The Band and all-star reggae collective and side project Natural Selectah featuring Congo Sanchez in addition to performances by Daniel Rodriguez (solo), Lyle Divinsky (solo), Thorn-Stickley Duo, and The Whole Other.
These special sets augment Jam Cruise 17’s artist lineup, which is headed by Umphrey’s McGee, Galactic, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Kamasi Washington, Khruangbin, and Hot Tuna Electric with Steve Kimock. Jam Cruise will also see performances by Leftover Salmon, The Motet, ALO, Turkuaz, Spafford, Fruition, TAUK, Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, Melvin Seals & JGB, Andy Frasco & The U.N., The Nth Power, SunSquabi, The Porter Trio, Matador! Soul Sounds, Toubab Krewe, Jennifer Hartswick & Nick Cassarino, Monophonics, Southern Avenue, Jon Stickley Trio, Magicgravy, Star Kitchen, The Sweet Lillies, Nathan Moore, Everyone Orchestra, DJ Soul Sister, and Subset in 2019.
Given the event’s focus on jams, the cruise will be hosting a number of special all-star supergroups, including Dragon Smoke, a band featuring Ivan Neville, Robert Mercurio, Eric Lindell, and Stanton Moore, as well as The Cleaners, a group featuring Eric Krasno, Duane Trucks, Marcus King, Kevin Scott, and Deshawn Alexander. Special guests, who will be offering their talents in the form of frequent sit-ins and hosting special jam sessions, include Skerik, Big Sam, Roosevelt Collier, Daniel Rodriguez, Leslie Mendelson, and Brandon “Taz” Niederauer.
For more information, head to JamCruise.com.