Today’s installment of The JamBase Podcast is our first “Schedule Buster” episode. For these “Schedule Buster” installments we’ll be focusing one specific topic, event or person. The subject of our inaugural “Schedule Buster” is Jam Cruise 16.

Jam Cruise 16 departed Miami aboard the Norwegian Jade on January 17. The Jade stopped in Roatan, Honduras and Grand Cayman Island during the trip before returning to Miami on January 22, but the main focus was live music. Incredible performances took place at a number of venues ranging from the intimate Bliss Lounge to the larger Stardust Theater, the unforgettable setting of the Pool Deck and beyond. And those were just the scheduled sets. There were also unscheduled performances that took place in what seemed like every public area of the boat.

Jam Cruise 16’s lineup featured the likes of Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood, Galactic, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Maceo Parker, Lotus, Electron, Lettuce, Steel Pulse, Keller Williams, Voodoo Dead and many others. Organizers Cloud 9 Adventures also recruited special guests such as Jennifer Hartswick, Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz, Natalie Cressman, Ryan Montbleau, Mike Dillon and Vince Herman to sit-in with other artists, perform intimate sets and lead the nightly Jam Room and Jazz Lounge sessions. Artists also led activities aboard JC16 including a guitar clinic, yoga sessions, Zambi hOUTr in honor of Col. Bruce Hampton, Match Game, Ping Pong Madness and more.

JamBase Editorial Director Scott Bernstein was aboard Jam Cruise 16 and hosts this “Schedule Buster” episode of The JamBase Podcast. Scotty starts with an introduction (note: he mentioned the trip took place aboard the Pearl, but it did indeed take place on the Jade). Then, ScottyB welcomes Pigeons Playing Ping Pong guitarist Greg Ormont for “Tour Stories.” Greg’s fellow PPPP guitarist Jeremy Schon soon joins in and the pair tells a wild story from the road and discusses their first ever Jam Cruise experience.

The second segment finds ScottyB chatting with Jam Cruiser Ingrid Tomanovits. Ingrid lives in Canberra, Australia and attended Jam Cruise 13 after seeing that Snarky Puppy, her favorite band, was performing aboard the boat. Tomanovits took a big chance and spent the money, time and effort to get to Miami for JC13 and she didn’t regret it. Within two days she had pre-booked for Jam Cruise 14 and hasn’t missed a Jam Cruise since.

Finally, the episode concludes with “All Access,” our segment profiling non-musicians who work within the Live Music Industry. Cloud 9 Adventures’ Annabel Lukins, who counts Cruise Director on Jam Cruise among her duties, talks to Scotty about her current role with the company and with Jam Cruise, how she started working in the live music world and what led to Cloud 9 hiring her.

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