Greetings from Grand Turk, where the Jam Cruise 22 is docked for its first port stop after a long, eventful second day at sea.
Sunday on the MSC Divina featured performances by Kendall Street Company, Anna Moss, Mihali, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz, The Wood Brothers, Chalk Dinosaur, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Galactic ft. Jelly Joseph, Dumpstaphunk, Taper’s Choice, The Disco Biscuits, and Here Come The Mummies, plus an Adam Deitch drum clinic, a “Pickin’ Lounge” led by Emma Rose, a Peter Levin piano set, a “Jazz Lounge” session helmed by Eddie Roberts, and a DJ AirWolf dance party at the Galaxy Disco.
Related: 6 Of The Best Things We Saw On Jam Cruise 22: Day 1 [Photos/Videos]
With several sets running simultaneously from noon through well past 4:00 a.m., it was impossible to catch all the music played on the ship on Sunday. Here are just a few of the most memorable moments from day two of Jam Cruise 22:
Revisit our daily coverage of Jam Cruise 22: Day 1 | Day 2 (below) | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
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The Wood Brothers & Friends of the Family
After performing in the Pantheon Theater on day one, The Wood Brothers hit the stage on the Pool Deck on Sunday afternoon for their second and final set of Jam Cruise 22. While night one’s Wood Brothers set showcased the deep familial connection between Oliver Wood (guitar, vocals), Chris Wood (bass, harmonica vocals), and Jano Rix (drums, keys, melodica, shuitar, vocals), their Pool Deck set on Sunday allowed them to incorporate a number of additional members of the “family.”
Guests on the set included vocalist Kanika Moore, who sang with Oliver on “Up Above My Head”; saxophonist Skerik, who added his off-kilter vivacity to a take on “Who the Devil”; and violinist Jake Simpson, who added a new layer of sound to “One More Day”—and prompted Chris Wood to abandon his upright bass to take an interpretive dance solo.
“Let’s collide worlds,” Oliver quipped ahead of Skerik’s sit-in. “Let’s jam this cruise. Let’s cruise this jam.”
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Super Bad Bunny Boat Bowl
The early evening schedule on day two included an unusual Jam Cruise element: For the first time, the Super Bowl took place during the ship’s annual voyage. Cruisers dressed in their best “Game Day” theme attire filled the ship’s bars and the Pantheon Theater to watch the big game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots Bad Bunny headline the halftime show alongside surprise guests Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, and more. In the theater, the show’s finale elicited one of the loudest audience reactions of the night. If you ever have the chance to watch the Super Bowl halftime on a big screen through a massive sound system in a floating theater surrounded by hundreds of jam band fans, I highly suggest you take it.
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A Classic Galactic Pool Deck Party
Nothing says “Jam Cruise” quite like lifers Galactic performing with a parade of special guests as wind whips across the Pool Deck on the open ocean. Along with touring vocalist Jelly Joseph and regular collaborator Mike Dillon, both of whom slipped in and out as the set went on, Sunday night’s annual summit with the staple New Orleans funk outfit included guest spots by legendary Jurassic 5 rapper Chali 2na, The Horn Section’s Chris Brouwers (trumpet) and Greg Sanderson (saxophone), night one standout Cimafunk, organist/night one Jam Room host Joe Ashlar, and more.
Of course, Galactic & Jelly don’t need surprise guests to bring the house down. In particular, the group’s alternate blues/soul arrangement of Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home to Me” was among the best numbers of the set.
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Kingfish Walks the Blues Around the Pool Deck
Young bluesman Christone “Kingfish” Ingram‘s first Jam Cruise set may have been scheduled against the Super Bowl, but he certainly made the crowd in attendance feel like his was the only game in town.
Partway through his searing blues-funk performance, he slipped offstage and out of sight, seemingly clearing the way for his backing band to have a moment in the spotlight. Instead, he kept soloing as he walked his way down from the stage, into the crowd, up to the balcony, and back again without ever missing a note.
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Eddie Roberts & Everybody in the Jazz Lounge
The Golden Jazz Lounge was packed to the brim and hot as a sauna for The New Mastersounds guitarist Eddie Roberts‘ 1:00 a.m. Jazz Lounge session, but those who squeezed their way in were treated to what may have been the most exciting set of day two: A high-intensity jazz-funk showcase featuring a rotating cast of heavy-hitters like The New Mastersounds’ Simon Allen (drums) and Galactic’s Stanton Moore (drums), Lettuce’s Eric “Benny” Bloom (trumpet), Kanika Moore (vocals), rhythm section sisters Taylor Galbraith (drums) and Ashley Galbraith (bass), Skerik (saxophone), Eli Fribush (saxophone), Joe Ashlar (organ), and more that ran past its scheduled end time and wrapped up at 3:00 a.m.
“How y’all feeling?!” Bloom asked the crowd during one band changeover. “It’s hot as f—! It’s f—in’ sick.”
Dave Harrington Wears Many Hats After Midnight
As the clock ticked toward midnight and into the early hours of Monday morning, guitarist Dave Harrington donned his metaphorical “jam hat”—not to be confused with bassist Alex Bleeker‘s literal “jam” hat—on the Pool Deck for the second excellent Taper’s Choice set in as many nights.
Once TC finished up, Harrington headed to the Black & White and put on his “ambient, psychedelic jazz improv odyssey” hat to host his late-night “Pranksters at Sea” Jam Room session. With a core band comprised of Eggy’s Alex Bailey on drums, Melody Trucks on percussion, and Taper’s Choices’ Zach Tenorio-Miller on organ, Harrington and his fellow pranksters defied the typical jam room dance party formula in favor of two-plus hours of ethereal, amorphous improv. Guests including percussionist Mike Dillon (tablas) The Horn Section’s Chris Brouwers (trumpet) and Greg Sanderson (saxophone), Eggy’s Jake Brownstein (guitar), Kingfish keyboardist D’Vibes, and Diggin’ Dirt guitarist Zach Gutierrez seemed to understand the assignment: We’re not playing riffs or ripping karaoke funk covers, we’re getting f—in’ weird.
Bonus points on this set to Melody Trucks, who I watched leave the Jam Room stage, run out to The Spot to lead the ongoing acoustic jam through a rendition of “Midnight Rider” by her late father Butch Trucks’ Allman Brothers Band, then run back to her hand drums on the Black & White stage and seamlessly slip back into Harrington’s prankster madness.
Revisit our daily coverage of Jam Cruise 22: Day 1 | Day 2 (above) | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5