Jam Cruise Journal: Joel’s Big Adventure

Cummins was a busy man on January 5th, the first “day at sea” of Jam Cruise 9. Joel lent his skills to fellow Chicagoans Cornmeal for When The World’s Got You Down -> Bennie and the Jets -> When The World’s Got You Down early in the day before joining one-man-band Zach Deputy for Cellular Phone and She Says. Later, Cummins laid into Power of Soul with Hendrix tribute act Some Cat From Japan. On the late night tip, JC guested during Jeff Bujak’s set in the Disco.

• Previous Jam Cruise Journals: All Aboard, Knee Deep In It, Letter to 16-Year-Old ScottyB, Nourished Soul, Day Four – Part 1, My Jam Cruise Debut, Jam Cruise 9 Videos, Day Four – Part 2, Photo Gallery – The People

On January 6th, Joel sat in with Greensky Bluegrass for a segment that included a cover of She Came In Through The Bathroom window after performing as part of the Moog Workshop with Fred Wesley, Adam Deitch, Nigel Hall, Rich Vogel, Scott Metzger & E.D. Coomes. He returned to the Moog Lab later that evening for some unscheduled riffing. The final full day of activity aboard the Poesia was also a full day of activity for Cummins. After performing as part of the Everyone Orchestra, Joel tackled two tunes with Brock Butler & Wyllys and later that night added tasty layers of Moog to part of Big Gigantic’s set.

For the Umphrey’s fans on the boat, we had our eyes on the 7:30PM slot on Saturday night, a time when Cummins would perform a set billed as “Umphrey’s classics rearranged for solo piano.” A small crowd gathered around the Atrium Piano as Joel – ever the professional – started his set as the clock hit 7:30. The keyboardist laid into a seemingly classical piece, but as he continued we were able to hear familiar patterns. After a minute or two, it was clear Joel was performing the gorgeous UM instrumental Great American. This version of Great American was about as different from the full band take as it gets thanks to all sorts of pretty interludes Cummins included between the main theme of the tune.

The following 16 minutes were among my favorite 16 minutes of the trip as Joel treated the large crowd that had developed to a sequence of Glory > Hajimemshite > 2×2. All three songs are filled with joy and that emotion came through in Cummins’ arrangements. While Great American was nearly unrecognizable at the start, Glory, Haji and 2×2 were performed in a more straight forward fashion. Glory was a tune I would’ve never expected from this set. The Umphrey’s version is all about stunt guitar theatrics, but this version showed the beauty within the skeleton of the song.

Haji is another tune bustling with emotion and Cummins did a fine job of building up the tension that explodes towards the end of the composition; the same can be said for his take on 2×2. 2×2 was one of the lengthier pieces Joel performed as he tackled each and every section of the complicated composition. While the keyboardist let the piano do the singing through the first four songs, Cummins welcomed fellow Chicagoan Michael Harrison Berg to handle vocals for Umphrey’s In The Kitchen. There’s no microphone or amplification of any kind at the Atrium Piano and Joel’s arrangement didn’t completely stick to the original’s structure, so credit Berg for hanging in and adding his signature voice to the proceedings as best he could.

In The Kitchen features a lyric “what can make me old” to which UM fans have taken to responding “like Joel” during the band’s concerts. Myself and about three other Umphreaks had a good time screaming “like Joel” when the time came and exchanged knowing glances at each other.  Next up was a short, classical-sounding instrumental titled D’yer Mak’er D’yer Semba that was debuted at Umphrey’s acoustic performance at the Fox in Boulder back in 2008.  Joel explained that he wrote the song for his wife, Dasha, who works on Jam Cruise. Finally, Cummins offered a song he wrote before his time in Umphrey’s, Orfeo, and left the piano to a hearty round of applause.

You can stream and download Joel Hudson’s recording of Joel Cummins’ set at the Live Music Archive.

Here are some more photos of Joel’s trip courtesy of Brian Spady…

Joel channels his inner Elton John on Bennie and the Jets…

Nigel Hall and Joel lay into Power of Soul during Some Cat From Japan’s set…

“She Came In Through The Bathroom Window….”

Moog On Up

If only Joel’s Everyone Orchestra band mates knew Sludge & Death…

Extra points if you can spot the writer of this article…

Bergles and Cumdog do In The Kitchen In The Atrium…