Jam Cruise Journal: Day One

About an hour after Trombone Shorty and Orleans Ave.’s set came a three-hour Dark Star Orchestra marathon. Man, I knew Jeff Mattson sounded just like Jerry but it was truly eerie to hear Jerry’s signature licks played so perfectly. He fits into his new band perfectly as he has decades of experience performing with DSO’s Rob Barraco. We were treated to an orignal setlist filled with Grateful Dead classics like Loose Lucy, Eyes of the World and a rollicking One More Staturday Night. Mr. Charlie closed things out with a bang. Mattson seemed a bit hoarse, which was my only DSO complaint.

DPV_5936_DSO_pooldeck

During DSO’s set, I took the opportunity to wander aound and check out parts of Maceo Parker’s and The Mother Hips’ sets. I was blown away by the creativity of The Mother Hips’ originals and the energy of Maceo’s band. All of the Hips’ songs sound completely different from each other and you could never pigeon-hole that band into any genre. I left their set jonesing for more and luckily I’ll get my chance later in the week.

Maceo and his band funked out the large theatre on the boat giving attendees plenty of grooves to dance to. During one of his many songs with funk in the title, Parker invited a British actress to the stage to deliver a Shakepearean sonnet, both confusing and delighting the crowd. I headed over to the famed Jam Room after a few tunes from Maceo and came across George Porter laying down Cissy Strut with Garrett Sayers, Jeff Coffin, and Dave Watt among others. They were so tight that you wouldn’t have guessed this was the ensemble’s first time playing together.

DPV_6068_Jam_Room_George_Porter_host

Late night on night one brought STS9, Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes as well as The Word. The crowd in the theatre for STS9 seemed filled with die-hard fans of the band. The group laid down plenty of crunchy electronica grooves some of which originated from their laptops while others were actually played on instruments.

I only caught a little of Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes in the Zebra Bar, but I liked what I heard. The Word is my jam, so I quickly headed up to the Pool Deck to see the supergroup deliver a heady mix of rock, gospel and funk. Robert Randolph and John Medeski each took turns showing off their massive skills while Luther Dickinson is no joke either. If you haven’t caught The Word yet, you are missing out.

DPV_6410The_Word_Pool_Deck

At this point it was 3AM and everyone keeps telling me “it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” so I retired to my room which was much bigger than I thought it would be. Everyone I’ve ever talked to who went on Jam Cruise raves about the experience and yesterday I found out why. This is as close to heaven as it gets for a jam fan. The beauty of it is…this trip has just started.

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12 Responses

  1. YES YES YES! I’m so jealous of all my friends and acquaintances down there. Live it up Scotty! I hope ZPZ treats you well.

  2. Great piece, Scotty!

    Cheers to you, and hope you get to catch as much music as you possibly can. SLEEP…is for the weak!

  3. this was my second year and in a statement JC 8 was sick and ridiculous.. highlights were john browns body and pretty lights on the pool deck

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