Dragon Smoke Performs ‘Yes We Can’ On Jam Cruise 17

During Jam Cruise 17, the multi-night music cruise and destination event welcomed Dragon Smoke, a New Orleans-based supergroup featuring Ivan Neville, Stanton Moore, Robert Mercurio and Eric Lindell. Now, Jam Cruise has released pro-shot video of the band’s performance of Allen Toussaint’s “Yes We Can,” which was first recorded by the Pointer Sisters.

While Dragon Smoke’s performances during their time on the cruise saw the group joined by numerous special guests, the newly released video is fairly straightforward, sans special guests. However, during the clip, the four-piece band featuring Galactic and Dumpstaphunk members used the 1973 song to send a poignant political message, highlighting the necessity of unity. Explained Neville after jamming on the song for six minutes:

We believe this is probably– this has got to be one of the greatest songs ever written by New Orleans’ favorite son, Mr. Allen Toussaint. We gotta sing this first verse again so you can check out what he was talking about way back in the day, and it means so much more right now, in this day and age we’re living in. It’s time we pay heed to the words and wisdom.

Watch the tight funk track below, courtesy of Jam Cruise: