Greetings from Grand Cayman, where Jam Cruise 20 is docked for the afternoon following its third day of music on Tuesday. We bounced around the boat a lot on Jam Cruise Day 3, stopping at most sets for a relatively brief time before moving along to other options in order to get the most out of the loaded schedule.
With several sets running simultaneously throughout the night, it was impossible to catch all the music played on the ship on Jam Cruise 20 Day 3. There were even plenty of memorable moments on Tuesday that aren’t listed in this highlight piece—from the old-school hip-hop retrospective on the Pool Deck by the incomparable Chali 2na and Cut Chemist to a guest-filled Krasno/Moore Project showcase featuring the likes of George Porter Jr., Karl Denson, and more, plus sets by TAUK, moe., Cool Cool Cool, The Sweet Lillies, Jordan Anderson (J & The Causeways), Cimafunk, Diggin’ Dirt, and DJ Soul Sister. I could go into detail about all of them, but if we’re being honest, the Cayman Island beaches are calling my name. What’s Jam Cruise without a dip in the ocean at a tropical island, anyway?
Read about just a few of the memorable moments from the third day of the voyage. Follow Live For Live Music on Instagram for more video content all week long.
Steel Pulse Rolls Away The Jamaican Dew
While legendary roots reggae outfit Steel Pulse hails from England, not Jamaica, the sunny sounds and positive vibrations they delivered on the Pool Deck against the backdrop of the Montego Bay coastline at dusk were an apt kickoff for Tuesday’s music schedule. Frontman David Hinds and the rest of the group were clearly feeling Grateful for the moment: In addition to offering up a reggae rendition of the Jesse Stone-penned “Don’t Let Go”, a longtime live staple for the Jerry Garcia Band, Steel Pulse invited the four winds to blow us safely to Wednesday’s port stop, Grand Cayman, with a cover of the Grateful Dead‘s “Franklin’s Tower”.
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Keller Williams Bobs On The Surface
Following the pre-sail Steel Pulse set in Jamaica, live-looping one-man show/human ball of sunshine Keller Williams was the first artist to take the stage on the Pool Deck once the ship set sail once again. As Cloud 9‘s Annabel Lukins said in her introduction, Keller’s on the 20th edition of Jam Cruise was particularly meaningful since he was also a performer on the first-ever Jam Cruise back in 2004. Williams’ set was as whimsical and laid-back as ever as he bobbed on the surface of the stage and the Divina bobbed on the surface of the tropical water—a visual he celebrated with a cover of Phish‘s “The Wedge”.
While Williams was done on stage for the evening following his set, he wasn’t done taking in the festivities. Cruisers who partied late might have spotted a solo Williams, shades on inside, tearing up the dance floor to DJ Soul Sister’s all-vinyl DJ set at the Galaxy Disco well after 3:00 a.m. How can you not love this guy?
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Cory Wong Keeps It Tight In The Theater
Cory Wong and his mostly instrumental namesake funk outfit hit the Pantheon Theater on Tuesday night for their first performance of the trip. This marks Wong’s second straight year on the boat following his two-show stint with high-speed Vulfpeck offshoot The Fearless Flyers on Jam Cruise 19. Those like myself who caught the Flyers last year saw a different side of the virtuosic rhythm guitarist this time around by way of his more melodic solo material.
Keeping with the spirit of the event, Kanika Moore joined in late in the performance to sing the Phoebe Katis vocals from his 2020 track “Synchronicity” and stuck around to lead Cory and the band through a cover of Steely Dan‘s “Peg”.
Speaking of last year’s Fearless Flyers appearance, we just published our interview feature on that band from Jam Cruise 19. Check it out here.
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More To See Than Can Ever Be Seen: Magic Beans Shine In The Black & White
On Jam Cruise, to borrow a line from Elton John, there’s more to do than can ever be done. Every day, you run through the schedule, make some tough decisions, and accept that you probably won’t catch certain sets. But Jam Cruise plans often change on the fly, and the set you thought you’d miss often winds up being one of your favorites.
That was the case for me on Jam Cruise 20 Day 3 with Colorado favorites Magic Beans, who manned the after-midnight slot at the Black & White Lounge. Dressed in referee uniforms in honor of the evening’s “Zebra” theme—and the venue’s color scheme—the Beans rattled off one big, driving jam after the next to keep the packed room moving throughout the performance. Tucked amid the set’s high-quality jam band-ery and fun-first energy was an unlikely highlight: In honor of “Zebra” night (“This one goes out to the whole animal kingdom,” guitarist/vocalist Scott Hachey said), bassist/birthday boy Chris Duffy took an impressive turn on lead vocals for a surprisingly sincere and moving cover of Sir Elton and Tim Rice‘s Lion King classic, “Circle of Life”.
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Dumpstaphunk’s Got Soul, Is Super Bad
New Orleans funk institution Dumpstaphunk closed out the Tuesday lineup at the Pantheon Theater with a bombastic late-night performance. While the band appeared without Nick Daniels III, one of the band’s two bass/guitar/vocals triple-threats alongside Tony Hall, there were plenty of talented associates from the Crescent City and beyond on hand to fill out the band’s thundering sound.
Highlights from the set included a hair-raising run through The Meters‘ “No More Okie Doke” with OG Meter George Porter Jr. on vocals and second bass; a soulful take on Chaka Khan and Rufus‘ “Dance Wit Me” led by singer Viveca Hawkins with Kanika Moore and Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph on backing vocals; a fiery rendition of recent original track “Where Do We Go From Here”, and funky James Brown “Soul Power”/”Super Bad” combo.
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Big Voices & Badass Women Dominate The Jam Room
Tuesday’s Jam Room session, led by powerhouse vocalists Adryon de León and Elise Testone, both showcased a revolving cast of soulful singers and underscored the wealth of talented women on the boat this year. From Hayley Jane leading Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” to Lyle Divinsky, Sammi Garett, and Testone belting Sly & The Family Stone’s “Sing a Simple Song” to Testone hammering The Pointer Sisters‘ “Yes We Can Can” with Garett and Kanika Moore to de León showing off her stylistic range on ’90s hip-hop/soul mega-hit “Whatta Man” (Salt-N-Pepa ft. En Vogue), the level of vocal prowess on one stage was almost overwhelming (in the best possible way).
While big voices were the session’s focal point, its rotating backing band was nothing to scoff at: Eddie Roberts (guitar, The New Mastersounds) and his Lucky Strokes bandmates Ashley Galbraith (bass) and Taylor Galbraith (drums), Chris Spies (Matador Soul Sounds), Tim Palmieri (guitar, Lotus), Craig Brodhead (guitar, Cool Cool Cool), Tony Hall (bass/vocals, Dumpstaphunk), members of Diggin’ Dirt and Cory Wong‘s band, and more served time in the ensemble over the course of the set.
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Check back tomorrow for more coverage from aboard Jam Cruise 20. Follow Live For Live Music on Instagram for more video content all week long. Revisit highlights from previous days of Jam Cruise 20 here: Day 1 | Day 2.
The post 6 Of The Best Things We Saw On Jam Cruise 20: Day 3 [Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
